Connie’s Comments by Connie Strunk, Turner County Extension Educator—Agronomy  September 17, 2009

Fall is the time of year that I enjoy!  I love the smell of the fresh, crisp air; watching the leaves change color; eating anything that has to do with pumpkin or apples; and watching the scenery as farmers go about harvest and start working with the fruits of their labor.  We are approaching that time of year that every farm family I know anticipates—harvest. 

Many farmers are getting restless as they are waiting for their crop to “hurry up and mature” so they can begin to harvest.  Harvesting comes in many ways.  First, there is the rush to “hurry up and get it done”.  Then the joy and fulfillment is felt when one takes the bare field in the spring or fall and turns it into a crop that will feed both humans and animals; and then of course there is the happiness and relief of being done with this year’s field work.

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about how the crops are going to yield this year.  For those of you who don’t have a yield monitor or would like to test it out or want something to do before harvesting, there are a few calculations you can use to estimate your yield.  These estimates are based on average growing conditions and good grain fill.  Corn is the easiest and most reliable crop to estimate. 

For corn, figure rows per ear and kernels per row to give kernels per ear.  Now figure the plant stand.  One easy way is to count stalks in 1000^th of an acre on 30″ rows.  This is 17.5 feet.  On 36″ rows this is 14.5 feet.  Now take the stand count from a given area and multiply by 1000 to get stand count per acre.  Now take the stand count per acre by kernels per ear to give kernels per acre.  Then divide by 90,000 which is the average kernel count in one bushel of corn.  This is your estimated corn yield.  Remember this is only an estimate.

Soybeans are a little harder to estimate as they vary greatly in their germplasm.  Count plants in 1000^th of an acre.  This is 17.5 feet on 30″ rows or 35 feet on 15″ rows.  Multiply this figure by 1000 to get stand count.  Now figure average pods per bean and multiply by beans per pod and multiply by stand count to get beans per acre.  Divide by 180,000 to get yield.  Yield is based on 3,000 seeds per pound of beans.  If you figure your beans at 4,000 seeds per pound, then divide by 240,000 instead of 180,000.  Remember soybean estimates can vary a lot so DO NOT COUNT ON THE ACCURACY OF THESE ESTIMATES. 

            If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at the Turner County Extension Office at 297-3112.

For your information:  The deadline to sign-up for South Dakota State University’s 2009-2010 Calf Value Discovery Program is October 2, 2009.  The program enables cow-calf producers to assess the value of their cattle in a marketing system based on value, and helps them to gain carcass and feedlot performance information to aid management decisions and improve profitability.

Producers consign a minimum of five steers weighing 500 to 800 pounds to the CVD Program.  The cattle must be dehorned, castrated and healed prior to feedlot arrival. Calves do not need to be weaned or pre-conditioned to participate, but producers should inform SDSU if the calves will be weaned or not prior to arrival.  There is a $15 per head, non-refundable registration fee for the program.  For more information or to sign up for the program contact Cody Wright at (605) 688-5448 or email him at cody.wright@sdstate.edu.

A Horse Owners Seminar is scheduled for September 30^th, 2009 at the Southeast Research Farm (SERF).  The SE Research Farm is located 5 ½ miles west and 2 ¾ miles south of the I-29 Beresford exit.  The farm’s address is 29974 University Road.  There is no cost for the seminar but pre-registration is required.  Call (605) 764-2756 or (605) 356-2321 by Friday, September 25^th in order to pre-register.  The seminar starts at 6:30 p.m. and topics covered include:  basic horse nutrition and the nutritional requirements of various ages and classes of horses; pasture establishment; grazing management; health and hoof care; equine disease prevention and dry lotting considerations.