It finally feels like fall! The leaves are turning, the weather is getting cooler, and even though we haven’t started harvest yet, I’m excited about the season change. We’re about 10-14 days from beginning harvest and even then not everything is going to be ready. I’ll plan for an update next week, but don’t expect anything to be harvested by then. 😉
Now for this week’s update!
10/04/19 Update:
Cover Crop Soybeans (144 Days)
Major difference since last week! Fewer leaves, a browner and yellower appearance than last week, and you can see the stems/pods from the road now instead of a sea of leaves.
Still a few green leaves, but those will likely yellow and/or drop in the next few days. The plants aren’t using them for photosynthesis anymore and they’re no longer needed on the plant.
Here’s a close up on the pods. See how they’ve turned brown since last week? Most of the pods in this field are currently this color (a good thing!).
Here’s what’s going on inside the pod. (Ignore the one on the far right – seems that this pod was developed for three soybeans and one fizzled out. Could’ve happened for a variety of reasons, like lack of rain or a nutrient issue or pest issue. My bet is lack of rain in late July).
See how the beans have turned yellow and have begun to shrink in the pod? They’ll continue to shrink and become more of a sphere than a bean shape (they rattle when you shake the pod as they get smaller). They’ll stay about this color or turn slightly more tan as they continue to dry – the soybean color really depends on the variety genetics, kind of like how the genetics influence whether the plant produces white or purple flowers.
Here’s another photo. See the hilum? It’s the brown line on the soybean closest to my pinky finger and has gotten darker since last week. It’s basically a scar from where the soybean used to be connected to the plant, so we know that these soybeans are no longer collecting nutrients from the plant (which we could also tell visually since the plants have stopped growing and are drying out).
Corn (122 Days)
Ugh, still lots of green.
But stepping inside of the field tells a different story (that’s why windshield scouting isn’t always advised). Still lots of green in here, but the leaves towards the bottom half of the plant have begun to brown and droop).
The husks around the ears are also brown. We can’t judge when it’s time to harvest based on the color of the leaves though – there have been plenty of times when we’ve been harvesting corn with the combine and there are still green leaves present. But the leaves are a good visual tell of where the plant might be in terms of maturity.
A few dents on kernels on this ear – hence why we call it ‘dent corn’. But that’s not always an indicator of maturity. I’ve shown pictures of dented corn like this for weeks. 🙂
Here’s the same ear split in half. What I’m looking for here is the development of the black layer, which is an indicator of physiological maturity. It essentially seals the kernel off from the cob, kind of like the hilum on a soybean. It’s really hard to tell here, but it appears that the black layer is beginning to form (a really, really good thing!). We’re not expecting a frost yet, but if a frost would happen to come and kill the corn plant before the black layer developed, the crop would essentially be worthless to us since it would be immature and we couldn’t sell it as grain.
Here’s a kernel split in half. You can just make out the black layer at the tip of my thumbnail. The black layer will be more prominent as the kernels dry down.
No-Till Soybeans (118 Days)
Similar story in this soybean field. Lots of visual changes this week compared to last week!
A few more green leaves in this field than in the other field. But that’s to be expected since this field is slightly behind the other field in maturity.
The pods are still in the process of turning brown and aren’t quite as pretty as the other field. See all of the green pods and the spotted pods? Those will be brown by this time this week. (Don’t worry – the spots are a natural occurrence as the pods dry out).
And there’s the update for the week. Enjoy this weekend’s cooler weather! 🙂