The Earfull September 28, 2026
2026 Season in Review: From a Slow Start to the Finish Line
Every growing season has a story. The 2026 story started with cold soils and slow accumulation of growing degree units, moved through a timely planting push, shifted into a summer of field-by-field disease and stress management, and now finishes with the decisions that protect yield and grain quality at harvest.
It is tempting to judge a season only by the final yield monitor number. That number matters, but it does not explain the full outcome. The best post-season learning comes from connecting what happened at planting, through vegetative growth, during pollination and grain fill, and finally at harvest. Observations along the way help explain the data that will soon come off the combine.
Spring: Patience Paid Off
The season opened with cool soils, limited early heat, and questions about emergence. In many areas, the crop was planted in a timely manner, but early growth did not always look fast or uniform from the road. Corn and soybeans needed time for the seed zone to warm, and the year’s first management lesson was simple: dig plants and evaluate them before making decisions.
Those early checks mattered. Stand counts were important, but stand uniformity mattered just as much. Uneven emergence, variable planting depth, sidewall compaction, crusting, wet spots, and cold-stress effects often showed up first as differences in plant size. Some fields grew through those concerns with little consequence. Others carried subtle variability well into the season.
The other spring priority was weed control. Timely pre-emergence programs and follow-up post applications helped preserve early crop competitiveness. Where rainfall activated residual programs and growers stayed ahead of weed growth, the crop was better positioned to use light, water, and nutrients once warmer conditions arrived.
Summer: Field Risk Became the Story
By late June, the crop had shifted from establishment to protecting yield potential. Canopies closed, the crop approached tassel, and disease conversations became more important. The familiar disease triangle—susceptible host, inoculum, and favorable environment—helped frame the decisions.
Tar spot, northern corn leaf blight, gray leaf spot, and other foliar diseases were not equal in every field. Field history, corn-on-corn rotation, residue, hybrid response, irrigation, canopy density, and repeated periods of leaf wetness separated lower-risk acres from fields that deserved closer attention. The best management decisions were not blanket decisions. They came from ranking fields, scouting them at tighter intervals, and focusing protection around the periods that mattered most for grain fill.
The season also reminded us that stress rarely travels alone. Root restrictions, variable soils, saturated areas, droughty ridges, nutrient limitations, insect injury, and weather all influence how a plant finishes. A field can look good in July and still tell a more complicated story in August or September when kernel depth, stalk quality, and ear health are evaluated.
Fall: Protect What Is Left
As the crop reached black layer, yield was largely set and the conversation shifted to retaining the crop that had been built. Weather drives drydown, but it should not be the only factor that determines harvest order.
Strong-standing fields with healthy ears may have time to wait for a favorable drying window. Fields with weak stalks, root or crown rot, ear drop, lodging, ear molds, or significant wildlife and insect injury do not have the same luxury. The cost of drying corn is visible. Waiting can be costly, as seen in ears on the ground, harvest loss, lower test weight, grain-quality discounts, and more difficult combining.
Ear molds deserve particular attention in the final stretch. Pink or red mold near the ear tip can suggest Gibberella ear rot; scattered discolored or starburst kernels can suggest Fusarium ear rot; dense white mold beginning near the ear base may be Diplodia; and olive-green growth can indicate Aspergillus. Mold appearance helps direct scouting and testing, but it does not determine mycotoxin level. Representative grain sampling and laboratory testing are the right way to make feed and marketing decisions when toxin-producing molds are suspected.
Harvest priorities
- Walk fields before harvest and use stalk pinch and push tests to help set harvest order.
- Prioritize fields with lodging risk, ear retention concerns, or ear mold before stronger fields.
- Pull representative ear samples; completely remove husks rather than judging ear health from the field edge.
- Keep mold-affected or suspect grain separate whenever possible and avoid blending it with clean corn.
- Adjust the combine to manage fines and lightweight material, while monitoring for excessive grain loss.
- Dry wet or mold-affected grain promptly, cool it for storage, and monitor bins closely.
- Capture field notes before the visual evidence disappears: hybrid, soil type, population, drainage, disease, insect injury, stress patterns, and harvest observations.
The Data Will Tell the Rest
Harvest is the final field-scale evaluation, but yield data is only as useful as the questions we ask of it.
A yield map can show where the field performed differently. Notes from the season help explain why.
When the combine starts rolling, keep an eye on more than bushels per acre:
Observation | Question to ask after harvest |
Yield pattern | Did low- and high-yield zones match spring emergence, drainage, soil texture, or in-season stress patterns? |
Moisture pattern | Did maturity, planting date, hybrid placement, or late-season stress influence drydown across the field? |
Test weight and grain condition | Were low-test-weight or moldy areas connected to ear disease, premature death, insect injury, or weather stress? |
Standability | Did stalk or root issues align with population, fertility, disease history, compaction, or saturated areas? |
Hybrid response | Which products were the most consistent across soils, management zones, and stress environments? |
The best time to begin a 2027 plan is while the 2026 crop is still fresh in your mind. Mark problem areas, save yield and moisture layers, retain representative grain-quality results. Then, compare those records with planting maps, fertility history, drone imagery, soil maps, and scouting notes. The goal is not to overreact to one difficult spot or one unusual weather event. The goal is to build a clearer placement and management strategy field by field.
Take Home
The 2026 season asked growers to be patient in the spring, disciplined with scouting in the summer, and deliberate as harvest approaches. Many acres had a slow start but strong potential. Final results will still depend on protecting standability, grain quality, and harvest efficiency in the weeks ahead.
Bring on the yield data—and a safe harvest season to everyone in the field, on the road, and at the bin.
The Earfull September 21, 2026
Ear Molds in Corn: Identify the Risk, Protect Grain Quality
A few moldy ears can be easy to dismiss. They should not be.
Ear-rotting fungi can reduce test weight, create harvest and storage challenges, and—depending on the organism—produce mycotoxins that affect grain marketing and livestock feed use. The practical question is not simply, “Is there mold?” It is: “Which ear mold is present, how widespread is it, and how should harvest and storage change?”
Late-season weather, hybrid response, residue, insect injury, and crop stress all influence ear-mold risk. There is no curative treatment once mold is present at this stage. The immediate work is to scout accurately, prioritize affected fields, segregate suspect grain, dry it promptly, and test representative grain when toxin-producing ear rots are possible.
Ear mold | Field clues | Conditions and entry points | Primary toxin concern |
Gibberella ear | Pink to red mold, commonly beginning at the ear tip and moving toward the base; husks may stick tightly to severely affected ears | Cool, wet conditions during early silking; inoculum survives in corn and small-grain residue. Risk is often greater in continuous corn or where Fusarium head blight has occurred in wheat | DON (vomitoxin) and zearalenone; particularly important for swine |
Fusarium ear rot | Scattered or patchy tan, brown, purple, white, or pink kernels; white “starburst” streaks can radiate from the silk attachment point | Warm conditions, especially with ear injury from insects, birds, hail, or other damage | Fumonisins; important concern for horses and swine |
Diplodia ear rot (Stenocarpella spp.) | Dense white to gray mold often begins at the ear base and moves toward the tip; black, embedded pycnidia may occur on kernels, cob, husks, or shank | Dry weather before silking followed by wet conditions; corn residue, continuous corn, and susceptible hybrids increase risk | No mycotoxins currently associated with Diplodia ear rot in the United States and Canada, but grain quality and test weight can suffer |
Aspergillus ear rot (Aspergillus flavus) | Powdery olive-green mold, often at the tip or near an injury site | Hot, dry stress; insect, bird, hail, or other ear injury can increase risk | Aflatoxin |
Know What You Are Seeing
Peel husks back completely. Mold color, where it begins on the ear, and whether it occurs in patches or as a dense mat are useful field clues. Field diagnosis is a screening tool—not proof of a particular mycotoxin level.
Why It Shows Up
Ear molds begin with a susceptible ear and a favorable infection window. Spores can come from crop residue, soil, or wind. They infect through silks, the ear shank, or wounds. Insect feeding, bird damage, hail, and mechanical injury provide openings for pathogens and often worsen a moderate mold problem.
Weather drives which mold gains the advantage:
- Cool, humid weather around silking favors Gibberella.
- Warm conditions and ear injury favor Fusarium.
- A dry period before silking followed by wet conditions afterward favors Diplodia.
- Hot, dry stress—especially with damaged ears—favors Aspergillus and aflatoxin risk.
Continuous corn, surface residue, uneven stress, nutrient limitations, drainage issues, and delayed harvest can add to risk. Mold development and toxin accumulation can continue when grain remains wet in the field or in storage. Drying stops additional fungal activity; it does not remove toxins already present.
What To Do Now
Put affected fields first
Harvest fields with significant ear mold early. Waiting for additional field drydown can increase mold severity, toxin risk, dropped ears, and quality loss. In a high-risk field, taking corn a few points wetter and drying it promptly is often the lower-risk decision.
Set the combine to remove poor material
Work with the operator to minimize kernel breakage and use settings that remove lightweight, damaged kernels and fines where practical. Those fractions may carry disproportionately more mold and mycotoxin. Balance cleaning against excessive grain loss and monitor the sample at the combine and delivery point.
Dry and cool immediately
Dry affected grain to below 15% moisture as soon as possible to limit further fungal growth and toxin production.
For longer-term storage, dry to 13% moisture or less and cool grain; Crop Protection Network identifies 30°F as a long-term storage target for contaminated grain when feasible.
Avoid slow handling of warm, wet grain. Monitor bins closely for crusting, heating, odor, insects,
or worsening mold.
Remember: heating, freezing, and drying do not destroy mycotoxins that are already in the grain.
Take Home
Ear mold is a harvest-management issue first and a next-season placement issue second. Identify the pattern, scout enough ears to understand the field, harvest affected acres early, keep suspect grain separate, dry and cool it quickly, and test grain whenever toxin-producing molds are possible. A clean, representative sample and a deliberate harvest plan are far more valuable than guessing from mold color alone.
References
- Crop Protection Network. 2024. An Overview of Ear Rots (CPN-2001, updated).
https://cropprotectionnetwork.org/publications/an-overview-of-ear-rots - Smith, D. L., and Goeser, J. 2019. Corn Stalk Rots and Ear Rots: A Double Whammy for Wisconsin Corn Farmers Again This Year. University of Wisconsin–Madison Integrated Pest and Crop Management.
https://ipcm.wisc.edu/blog/2019/10/corn-stalk-rots-and-ear-rots-a-double-whammy-for-wisconsin-corn-farmers-again-this-year/ - Murillo-Williams, A., Collins, A., and Esker, P. 2025. Corn Ear Rots and Mycotoxins. Penn State Extension.
https://extension.psu.edu/corn-ear-rots-and-mycotoxins - Ohio State University Extension. Corn Ear Rots: Identification, Quantification and Testing for Mycotoxins.
https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2016-32/corn-ear-rots-identification-quantification-and-testing
The Earfull September 14, 2026
Corn Drydown: What to Expect as We Head into Fall
As we move away from warm days and into more typical fall weather, corn can lose moisture surprisingly fast under the right conditions. The calendar, temperature, humidity, and wind will determine how long it takes to reach harvest moisture.
Once kernels reach black layer, they have reached physiological maturity. Grain is no longer adding dry matter. From that point forward, the goal is simply getting water out of the kernel. The weather does most of that work.
Warm, Sunny, Breezy Days Help
Early in the harvest season, corn dries about 0.75 to 1 percentage point of moisture per day when conditions are warm, sunny, dry, and breezy. A field at 25% moisture may reach 20% in roughly a week under a favorable stretch of weather.
It is possible to see more than one point of drydown per day for several days when temperatures are warm, humidity is low, and there is plenty of sunshine and wind. Wind does help move humid air away from the ear and husk, but it is part of the package—not a standalone answer. A cool, windy day will not dry corn like a warm, sunny, low-humidity day.
Temperature and humidity remain the biggest drivers. Warm air can hold more moisture, so it has more drying potential. Lower humidity gives moisture a place to go. Sunshine warms the ear and helps move moisture from the kernel. Rain, clouds, dew, and high humidity can slow or temporarily stop drydown.
One reminder: drydown is not always steady from one day to the next. Corn may lose moisture quickly through a good weather window, then hold nearly unchanged through several cool, damp days.
Fall Changes the Pace
As average temperatures slide lower, the daily rate of drydown usually slows. Research and Extension guidance commonly puts early- to mid-October drydown closer to 0.5 to 0.75 points per day. By late October and early November, 0.25 to 0.5 point per day is a more realistic expectation. Once temperatures stay cool and days become shorter, waiting for a big moisture drop can become an expensive gamble.
This does not mean every field should come out early. It does mean moisture should be checked regularly instead of relying on how dry the husks look from the road. A field that moves from 23% to 21% quickly may take much longer to get from 19% to 17% as weather cools and the remaining kernel moisture becomes harder to remove.
Hybrid and ear characteristics also matter. Loose husks, fewer husk leaves, and less coverage over the ear tip can support faster field drydown. However, when weather is favorable, most hybrids tend to dry at similar rates. Hybrid differences become more noticeable when conditions turn cool, cloudy, and damp.
Harvest Decisions Still Matter
A good drying forecast is useful, but it should not override field risk. Corn with weak stalks, ear rots, lodged plants, or ear drop concerns should move up the harvest list—even if it is still a few points wetter than the preferred target.
The cost of dryer fuel is easy to see. The cost of waiting can show up as dropped ears, harvest loss, slower combining, and difficult fields after a wind event. In many cases, taking vulnerable corn at 20% to 25% moisture and drying it is the better business decision than waiting for every point of field drydown.
A practical approach is simple:
- Pull representative ear samples and check moisture at least weekly as black layer approaches.
- Watch the 5- to 10-day forecast for warm, dry, breezy windows.
- Expect daily drydown to slow as normal fall temperatures settle in.
- Let stalk quality, ear retention, and lodging risk help set harvest order.
- Do not assume corn below 20% will continue drying quickly enough to justify additional field exposure.
Take Home
Weather drives corn drydown. The best conditions are warm, sunny, low-humidity, breezy days. As we transition into normal fall temperatures, expect the pace to slow. Use moisture checks and field conditions together: strong-standing fields can wait for a favorable drying window, while fields with stalk or ear concerns should be harvested before weather makes the decision for you.
References
- Nielsen, R. L. (2018). Field Drydown of Mature Corn Grain. Purdue University Agronomy. https://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/news/timeless/graindrying.html
- Thomison, P. (2017). Cool Weather and Corn Dry Down. Ohio State University Agronomic Crops Network.
https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2017-30/cool-weather-and-corn-dry-down - Archontoulis, S., & Saenz, E. (2025). The Corn DryDown Calculator: A Tool to Guide Harvest Timing. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.
https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/post/corn-drydown-calculator-tool-guide-harvest-timing
The Earfull September 7, 2026
What is This Crop Telling Us?
The combine gives us the final yield number. A walk through the field before harvest helps explain why. This is the time to look for premature plant death, weak stalks, diseased roots, and the field patterns behind them.
Corn: Ghosted Plants and Dead Tops
Scattered corn plants that look gray-green, brown, or finished well ahead of their neighbors are often called “ghosted” plants. They may point to crown rot, stalk rot, or both. Do not diagnose them from the road—dig plants, keep the root ball intact, and split the lower stalk through the crown.
A rotted, brown-to-black crown; discolored roots; deteriorated pith; or weak lower internodes all point to a standability concern. These issues often start much earlier than when symptoms appear. Cool or wet soils, slow emergence, compaction, restricted roots, nutrient stress, saturated areas, and late grain-fill demand can all leave plants more vulnerable.
Also look up in the canopy. Scattered plants with a dead flag leaf and browned leaves or stalk above the ear may have anthracnose top dieback. It can resemble ghosting because the plant is dying early, but the top-down pattern is the clue. The upper portion of the plant dies while leaves around the ear or lower in the canopy may remain green.
Peel back upper leaf sheaths on suspect plants. Shiny black, elongated lesions on the stalk rind support an anthracnose diagnosis. Check the lower stalk, too. Top dieback often occurs with stalk rot, and a dead top alone does not tell you whether the plant will lodge.
Not every brown plant or dead top is disease. Heat and drought can kill upper leaves, often across a larger dry area of the field. Insect injury and other stresses can look similar. Compare affected plants with healthy neighbors, split stalks, and send samples for diagnosis if the cause is uncertain.
Let standability set harvest order
There is no late-season rescue treatment. The immediate priority is to identify fields most likely to lodge and put them ahead of stronger fields in the harvest plan. Begin near black layer and walk each field. At five or more stops, use both a pinch test on the lower internodes and a push test: push plants about 30 degrees from vertical and see whether they return upright.
A field with roughly 10% failed plants deserves attention and should be scheduled early. At 10–15% failed plants—or where crown rot, shredded pith, weak lower nodes, or lodging is concentrated in meaningful acres—move that field to the front of the line. Do not let a field with compromised stalks wait for the calendar just because grain is drying down well. Wind, rain, and continuing stalk decline can turn a manageable problem into ears on the ground.
When a high-risk field reaches physiological maturity, it can be worth taking it at approximately 20–25% grain moisture and drying it rather than waiting for ideal field-drydown moisture. The drying bill has to be weighed against lost ears, slower harvest, extra header loss, and the time required to pick up lodged corn.
If a weak field is already below 20% moisture, the margin for waiting is usually gone. Grain is not gaining meaningful drydown value fast enough to justify increased lodging exposure, and dry, weakened stalks can continue to fail. Harvest it as soon as logistics allow. Keep ground speed down in lodged spots, run the header close to the ground, and consider harvesting against the direction plants are leaning to reduce missed ears.
Record the hybrid, field location, soil conditions, drainage, population, fertility concerns, and severity while symptoms are still visible. Those observations help make better placement and management decisions next season.
Soybeans: SDS or Red Crown Rot?
Soybean plants with yellowing and browning between leaf veins are worth digging now. Sudden death syndrome and red crown rot can look similar from above the canopy, but the roots and lower stem help separate them.
Sudden death syndrome typically causes yellow areas between green veins that become brown and dead. As symptoms worsen, leaflets often drop while the petioles remain attached to the stem. Roots can be decayed, and blue fungal growth may sometimes be visible. Disease risk is often greater in fields with cool, wet planting conditions, compaction, poor drainage, or soybean cyst nematode pressure.
Red crown rot can cause similar interveinal yellowing and browning, but it more directly affects the roots and crown. Dig whole plants and inspect the lower stem at the soil line. Reddish discoloration at the stem base, severe root rot, and small reddish-brown fungal structures under favorable conditions are important clues. Unlike sudden death syndrome, plants affected by red crown rot often retain dead leaves.
Neither disease has an in-season cure. Flag affected areas and confirm red crown rot with a diagnostic lab, especially where it is new or suspected. For next year, use field observations to guide variety selection, soybean cyst nematode sampling and management, drainage and compaction improvements, and seed-treatment decisions. Crop rotation and avoiding movement of soil from suspect areas can help reduce red crown rot risk, but neither practice will erase a field history overnight.
Take Home
Every field tells a story. A few shovel digs, split stalks, standability checks, and notes before harvest can turn late-season symptoms into a better plan for hybrid placement, harvest timing, and disease management next year.
References
- Freije, A., Wise, K., & Nielsen, R. (2016). Diseases of corn: Stalk rots (BP-89-W). Purdue Extension. https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/BP/BP-89-W.pdf
- Adee, E., & O’Mara, J. (2026). Sudden death syndrome in soybeans: Symptoms, diagnosis, and management. K-State Research and Extension.
https://www.agronomy.k-state.edu/eupdates/2026/issue-1118-august-27/sudden-death-syndrome-in-soybeans.html - Camiletti, B. (2025). Red crown rot progressing in Illinois: Symptoms confirmed in Shelby County commercial fields. University of Illinois Department of Crop Sciences.
https://farmdoc.illinois.edu/field-crop-production/red-crown-rot-progressing-in-illinois-symptoms-confirmed-in-shelby-county-commercial-fields.html
The Earfull August 31, 2026
As Harvest Nears
As we move into September, drought is becoming one of the biggest variables separating fields across the Renk Seed area. The map does not tell the entire story—and neither does a drive down the road. Some acres caught timely rain and still have strong finish potential. Others have been running short of water for weeks, and they are showing it in earlier drydown, lighter grain fill, shorter plants, weak pod fill, or uneven maturity.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor puts the sharpest late-season concern across parts of Minnesota, western and northern Wisconsin, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Severe drought (D3) expanded across northwestern Wisconsin and into eastern Minnesota during the August 25 assessment. The same update noted some relief from showers in Michigan and southern Wisconsin, while another dry week aggravated ongoing impacts farther north and west.
That pattern lines up with what makes drought difficult to manage across the Renk Seed area: there is no single “Renk crop condition.” From Michigan into Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, western Iowa, and
non-irrigated Nebraska, rainfall has been highly variable. Two fields only a few miles apart can be headed into harvest with very different yield, moisture, feed-value, and plant-health stories.
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx
Corn: Grain Fill Is Still the Question
Corn is far enough along that the yield ceiling has largely been set, but late-season stress can still affect what makes it into the bin. Corn plants that ran short of water during grain fill may finish faster, show premature firing, lose stalk integrity, and end up with lighter kernels. The crop may look like it is “drying
down nicely,” when the reality is it’s finishing early because it ran out of water.
That is why field-by-field scouting matters right now. Pull ears from the good, average, and stressed areas
of each field. Look beyond kernel number and evaluate kernel depth, tip fill, ear consistency, plant health,
and stalk condition. Compare those observations to soil type, planting date, hybrid placement, rainfall timing, and any compaction or drainage pattern. The result is a much more useful harvest conversation than a whole-field estimate made from the road.
Late-season drought also raises the importance of stalk quality. A stressed plant may remobilize carbohydrates from the stalk to finish the ear. Add leaf disease, nutrient stress, root restriction, or insect feeding, and the risk of stalk cannibalization and lodging can increase. Prioritize fields with weak lower stalks, heavy ear load, visible firing, or early plant death for harvest rather than leaving them until last.
For irrigated acres, the decision is not simply whether the season has been dry. It is whether enough usable water remains in the root zone to finish the crop. Corn at beginning dent can still use about 2 inches of water through maturity, while corn at half milk line has about 0.8 inch remaining. The best final-irrigation decision combines growth stage, actual root-zone moisture, and the near-term forecast—not the calendar alone.
Corn Silage: Moisture Moves Fast in Stress Fields
Drought-stressed silage corn can move from “not ready” to “too dry” quickly. Whole-plant moisture must drive harvest timing; calendar date, kernel milk line, and field appearance are useful clues, but they are not a substitute for sampling. In a variable field, pull representative plants from multiple zones. Sandy ridges, shallow soils, compacted headlands, and the best portions of the field may not be at the same moisture.
Dry silage is harder to pack and is more vulnerable to heating and spoilage. Lower biomass also changes the feed-inventory conversation, especially on dairy and livestock operations that were counting on a normal-tonnage crop. If plants are drought-stressed, evaluate both quantity and quality before finalizing chop plans. Shorter cut length, careful kernel processing, aggressive packing, prompt covering, and a realistic inventory estimate become even more important when the crop is dry and variable.
Soybeans: Pod Fill and Plant Health Still Matter
Soybeans generally have more flexibility to recover from stress than corn—until moisture is short during pod and seed fill. The University of Minnesota notes that soybeans at beginning seed (R5) may use about 2.9 inches of water through maturity, compared with about 1.2 inches at full seed (R6). A timely rain can still add seed size and help retain yield; continued stress can mean small seed, aborted pods, uneven maturity, and a field that is ready sooner than expected.
Walk soybean fields with two questions in mind: Is this drought, or is drought exposing another problem? Dry conditions can make potassium deficiency, compaction, shallow rooting, soybean cyst nematode, sudden death syndrome, white mold history, herbicide injury, and poor drainage patterns easier to see. Symptoms that line up in zones or patches deserve a closer look before the combine erases the evidence.
This is also a good time to watch for green stem, uneven maturity, lodging, and late-season disease. In North Dakota, soybean condition is declining in much of the region under drought, along with reports of late-season potassium deficiency. Drought can reduce potassium movement to roots and make deficiency symptoms more apparent even in fields that are not extremely low in soil-test K. There may be no practical rescue treatment now, but these fields should be flagged for fall soil sampling, yield-map review, and next season’s fertility plan.
What Does It Mean?
This is not a year to make broad conclusions from one yield monitor map or one field visit. Drought response is a combination of rainfall timing, soil water-holding capacity, rooting depth, crop stage, hybrid or variety placement, fertility, and field history. The fields that look best today are not always simply the ones that received the most rain; they are often the fields that captured and held water, established roots early, and had fewer secondary limitations.
As harvest starts, the most valuable work may be documenting the story behind performance. Note the fields that held green longer, filled grain better, retained pods, maintained stalk strength, or stayed more consistent across soil zones. Just as important, document the fields that fell apart early. Was it light soil? Compaction? A planting-date issue? Fertility? Disease? A hybrid-by-field mismatch? Rainfall timing? Those notes turn this year’s drought into better product placement, better agronomy conversations, and better decisions for 2027.
Heading Into Harvest: What We’re Watching
- Scout before scheduling. Check stalk strength, ear retention, kernel depth, plant death, pod fill,
and maturity differences. Prioritize fields with lodging risk or fast dry-down. - Sample silage often. Use whole-plant moisture from representative areas—not just one grab sample
or milk line—to time chopping. Stress fields can vary greatly and dry rapidly. - Know the feed story. Estimate silage tonnage conservatively, manage packing and storage carefully,
and test drought-stressed feed for nitrate risk before feeding. - Separate drought from other causes. Flag patterns that match soil type, compaction, drainage, fertility, disease, or traffic. Harvest maps are much more valuable when they are paired with field notes.
- Watch soybean finish closely. Fields at R5-R6 can still respond to moisture, but drought may speed maturity and reduce seed size. Be ready for uneven dry-down and harvest timing.
- Use harvest to build next year’s plan. Pull post-harvest soil samples where conditions allow, especially for residual nitrogen and in fields with drought-related variability. Compare yield maps with drought zones and scouting notes before finalizing product placement.
A drought year has a way of exposing the limits in every field—but it also provides some of the clearest information we get. The goal now is not to explain every acre before the combine rolls. It is to capture
the observations that will help make the next crop more resilient.
References
- U.S. Drought Monitor. “Midwest Drought.” Data valid August 25, 2026.
- University of Minnesota Extension. “Do I need to irrigate again? Late-season irrigation considerations.” August 24, 2026.
- North Dakota State University Extension. Crop & Pest Report. August 27, 2026.
The Earfull August 24, 2026
Pro Farmer Crop Tour Recap 2026
The Pro Farmer Crop Tour is officially in the books, and if you’ve been hearing insight from this tour on TV or social media, you already know the story: corn backed off last year’s record pace, but soybeans are hanging tough and could still set a new high. Here’s what we’re seeing, why it’s shaking out this way, and what it means as we start turning the page toward harvest.
What the Tour Found
Scouts wrapped their seven-state run in Rochester, Minnesota, and the takeaway was pretty simple — corn is down from 2025 almost across the board, while beans are holding up well and might still notch a national record. Pro Farmer’s national corn number came in at 173.2 bu/acre, about 7.5 bushels below USDA’s 180.7 estimate, for a crop of roughly 15.344 billion bushels. Soybeans are pegged at 53.3 bu/acre nationally, good for a 4.572-billion-bushel crop — above USDA’s own number and a potential record if it holds through harvest. Tour leader Chip Flory summed it up well: “Everything is down from a year ago… except for Minnesota soybean pod counts.”
Why This Year Looks Different
Early-season stress is really the story here. Cool, wet conditions and delayed planting set corn back on ear counts and grain length, and that kind of early-season hit doesn’t get made up later. Soybeans had an easier path — with more time to fill pods once conditions improved later in the summer, which is why beans are outperforming corn relative to both last year and the recent average. South Dakota took the hardest hit of the tour, with real heat stress showing up in both crops. Illinois stood out as one of the few areas down from both 2025 and its own three-year trend — a tougher combination than most states saw. Iowa and Minnesota corn, by contrast, came in below last year’s record but still landed above their three-year averages, so there’s real quality in those fields even without a repeat of 2025.
Worth mentioning to growers who might be going off USDA’s numbers alone: the Tour’s actual field counts and USDA’s survey-based estimates don’t always agree. Ohio’s USDA number implied a slight increase from last year, but the Tour’s pod counts showed a 7% drop, and South Dakota had a similar gap between the two data sets. If you are working off USDA’s more optimistic figures, it’s a good time to walk and see what is showing up in your fields.
What This Means for Renk Growers
This is shaping up to be a year where hybrid and variety selection really show their value — the fields that held up best through early stress were the ones with strong stress tolerance and root development going into pollination. It’s a good reminder heading into fall plot walks and next year’s seed conversations that genetics built for resilience, not just top-end yield in a perfect year, are what separate a good year from a great one when the weather doesn’t cooperate.
Heading Into Fall – What We’re Watching
- Get out and walk fields now, before harvest: ear counts and stand checks in-season help you understand what your crop looks like, and you can start to create your fall plan (yes, a plan never is perfect, but it’s a start).
- Lean into what your crop is telling you; both for corn and soybeans, there is some late-season disease and moisture stress showing, both dry and wet conditions, and what does that mean at the end?
- Pay extra attention to fields in areas that lagged their three-year average – worth digging past “just weather” to see if disease, fertility, or drainage played a role too. The role of fertility is an area that one can question: What is the true cost of cutting back? [2027 looks to be another higher-than-average cost.]
- Start pulling yield and moisture checks, especially if you are planning on chopping corn for silage, as many reports of whole plant moisture are below 70%, which is “Go Time!” (Reminder: especially in stress fields, that moisture will change greatly across that field.)
- Keep notes now on what performed above expectation this season – this is exactly the kind of insight that shapes next year’s product recommendations but should not be the only part of the recommendation. One-year wonders also happen in the stress years.
References
- “Corn Falls Short of Last Year’s Record, But Soybeans Eye New Highs.”
- Pro Farmer. “Pro Farmer Estimates 2026 U.S. Corn Crop at 15.344 Billion Bushels, Soybeans at 4.572 Billion Bushels.”
- Pro Farmer. “First Thing Today: Crop Tour Finds Lower Yields in Ohio, South Dakota.”
The Earfull August 17, 2026
Late-Season Clues, Next-Season Answers
By late August, the crop is beginning to show us what is working and what did not. The challenge is that many of those clues become harder to interpret once leaves dry down, equipment starts running, and harvest activity takes over.
This week is a good time to move beyond the simple question, “How good does this field look?” Instead, start asking: “What is causing field variability, and what can these differences teach us before next spring?”
Corn: Capture the Patterns Now
In corn, the differences are often becoming easier to see. A field may appear uniform from the road while still containing distinct zones with shorter plants, lower ear placement, early dry-down, weaker color, or visibly thinner stands.
Those patterns rarely happen by accident. They can point back to soil texture, compaction, drainage, residue distribution, planting conditions, uneven emergence, nutrient availability, or rainfall timing.
This is not the week to build another yield estimate. The better use of time is to identify the zones worth explaining after harvest.
A few simple actions can pay off:
- Drop pins or take geotagged photos of areas that are finishing early or under stress.
- Note recurring headland, sidehill, sand ridge, or low ground patterns.
- Flag fields where a strong-looking crop changes sharply within a short distance.
- Identify whether weaker areas match old drainage issues, traffic patterns, or known soil changes.
- Save drone imagery or field photos before maturity makes the entire field look similar.
- The goal is to give harvest data some context. A low-yield area is much more useful when it is accompanied by field observations.
Soybeans: Watch for Uneven Finish
Soybeans often hide variability until later in the season. By now, differences in canopy height, maturity, pod load, weed pressure, and green stem risk can help separate a one-time issue from a repeatable field pattern.
Pay attention to fields where maturity is noticeably uneven. Some variation is expected, but broad or recurring zones can reveal more about the field than a whole-field average ever will.
Look for places where:
- Plants are shorter or thinner in a consistent pattern.
- Weed escapes line up with weak canopy development.
- Wet areas remain green longer than surrounding acres.
- Early-maturing areas follow lighter soils or shallow ground.
- Lodging risk or uneven drydown may affect harvest timing.
A quick note now can prevent a lot of guessing later. When yield maps are available, those notes help distinguish whether a poor zone was driven by weather, soil, traffic, drainage, population, or another manageable factor.
Make Harvest Data Better
Yield maps are only as valuable as the data going into them. Before harvest begins, take a few minutes to make sure monitors are calibrated, field boundaries are correct, and operators know where to pause or flag unusual conditions.
Clean yield data can become a strong decision tool when it is compared across years. Repeated low-yield areas deserve a different conversation than areas that only struggle in a dry year, wet year, or under a specific crop.
This fall, focus on building a short list of questions—not a long list of assumptions:
- Which zones perform well consistently?
- Which zones are consistently below the field average?
- Which areas are variable depending on weather?
- Where should soil sampling, drainage review, compaction checks, or population decisions begin?
- Which fields deserve an on-farm trial in 2027?
References
- USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Crop Progress, August 3, 2026.
- North Dakota State University Extension, Site-Specific Farming: Yield Mapping and Use of Yield Map Data.
- Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Plan Ahead to Minimize Soil Compaction During Harvest
The Earfull August 10, 2026
What the Ears Are Saying
Corn pollination has moved from “about to happen” to “already in the rearview” on a lot of acres. From the road, many fields still look strong. The real story now is on the ears themselves. The key three questions:
- Did this field actually pollinate well?
- Where are the weak spots hiding?
- How do we turn today’s ears into a useful yield and management conversation for fall?
The right time to look is…
- Tassels are mostly done or nearly done shedding.
- Silks have turned brown and are starting to dry down.
- You’re roughly 5–10 days past peak tassel in that field.
The fields that might be the best to pull into the driveway and see what the ears are saying: 1) Fields that hit tassel during a hot, dry stretch; 2) Lighter soils, compacted ends, and uneven zones that rolled early;
3) Later‑planted fields that just wrapped pollination under a different weather pattern. Then you will know which fields look good with ears that back that up—or don’t.
The ear silk shake test simple, quick, visual
You don’t need a complicated procedure to grade pollination. The straightforward shake test that works well in the field. It takes about 30 seconds per ear and gives you a clear picture.
- Walk 50–100 feet in and pull 3–5 plants in a row.
- Choose ears where silks are mostly brown and dry.
- With a sharp knife, slice the husks from butt to tip and peel them back, leaving silks attached.
- Hold the ear horizontally and gently shake it.
Watch what the silks show you. Silks that fall away are tied to fertilized kernels. Silks that stay stuck mark ovules that never got pollen. You don’t need a chart. Your eyes do the work.
As kernels move deeper into grain fill, it’s worth taking a second look at ears you checked earlier in pollination and see how they’re actually filling out. A little “tip‑back”—a short, blank section at the very end of the cob—is common and can come from either late silks that never caught pollen or from the plant quietly aborting the youngest kernels when it doesn’t have the energy to finish them. What deserves more attention is how that poor fill shows up. If the blank area is limited to the last half‑inch or so at the tip, the field may still be in good shape. When blank space or shriveled, aborted kernels start marching further down the ear, or when you see entire rows missing along one side of the cob—the classic “zipper” pattern—this points to more serious stress during early grain fill. In those cases, the plant set kernels but later ran short on photosynthate due to drought, heat, nutrient limitations, or heavy disease pressure, and it shed part of the load to protect the remaining kernels.
Turning ears into a yield range
What is the yield of this field? Here is a basic method to calculate the range:
- In 30‑inch rows, measure a row length of 17’ 5” (1/1000 acre).
- Count the harvestable ears in that stretch and multiply by 1,000 for ears per acre.
- Count kernels per ear (# of kernel rows × # kernels length) – only count actual kernels—skip blank cob and severely aborted tips.
- Yield (bu/ac) ≈ (ears/acre × kernels/ear) ÷ 85,000–95,000. Use around 85,000 if the crop is healthy and kernels look like they’ll fill well; use closer to 95,000 if stress has obviously thinned or shortened them.
Soybeans: pod set check, not pod count marathon
While we’re focused on ears, soybeans are quietly making their own big decisions. Many fields are in full pod to early seed (R3–R5). This is when beans decide how many pods to keep and work on how full those pods will be.
You don’t have to count every pod to learn something useful. Three quick questions in beans:
- How is pod load spread up the plant? Walk the row and pull a few plants. Look for pods building from mid‑canopy into the upper third of the plant. A good plant usually has pods stacked on most nodes, not just at the bottom.
- Where are pods being shed? Some flower and tiny pod drop is normal; beans use it as a safety valve.
The worry point is heavy pod loss up top or on branches that line up with late-season stress—
heat, drought, or disease. - What could trim seed size from here? Dense canopies, warm nights, and sticky mornings are great for disease. Fields with a history of white mold or SDS deserve closer attention as we move deeper into pod and seed fill.
Recent soybean growth‑monitoring work reinforces a simple truth. What happens in August can push you from “average” to “better than expected,” or quietly shave a few bushels off the top.
References
- University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension. “Concerns about Drought as Corn Pollination Begins.” Wisconsin Corn Agronomy.
- Purdue University Agronomy. “Estimating Corn Grain Yield Prior to Harvest.”
- Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. “Corn Yield Estimates.” Integrated Crop Management.
The Earfull July 27, 2026
When Heat Stops Being “Just Weather”: Stress Degree Days, and Warm Nights
By late July, most growers expect some heat. What we are seeing now across much of the Renk footprint is more than that – it’s an extended stretch of high temperatures, sticky nights, and another strong ridge of high pressure building for the week across much of our area.
The crop has already worked through one major heat wave earlier this month. Now parts of the western and central Corn Belt are stacking another round of highs in the 90s and warm overnights as corn moves deeper into grain fill and late pollination pockets finish up. This week’s EARFULL focuses on when that heat stops being “just weather” and starts becoming measurable stress in the form of Stress Degree Days (SDDs), what warm nights over 70°F are doing inside the plant, and how to think about this week’s forecast for both dryland and irrigated acres.
Stress Degree Days:
Earlier issues have talked about heat and humidity around tassel and how corn manages stress by moving water. SDDs give us a simple way to measure how often the crop has been pushed past its comfort line.
For Midwest corn, 86°F is the key threshold. Each day the high exceeds 86°F, the “extra” degrees above 86 are added to a running SDD total. Iowa State work showed that under typical rain‑fed Iowa conditions, corn reaches incipient water stress more than half the time when air temperatures hit 86°F.
This matters because long‑term yield work suggests that when seasonal SDD totals stay below roughly 140, many rain‑fed crops can still finish at or above trend yield. Once totals push beyond that 140 mark, it becomes “tough to find corn yield above trend,” even with solid management. Your recent heat‑stress analysis shows some locations already carrying 80–90 SDDs, with another 50‑plus units possible if next week’s high‑pressure ridge holds together, which would move portions of the western and central Corn Belt into or past that 140‑SDD zone.
The main agronomic message is simple: isolated hot days are not the story anymore. The story is accumulated stress.
Warm Nights:
The other half of this heat stretch and the part growers often feel most is warm nights. The corn plant runs day and night. During daylight, plants make sugars; around the clock, they burn some of those sugars through respiration. High nighttime temperatures in the 70s and 80s increase respiration, which means more of the day’s sugars get burned off instead of ending up in kernels. Extension and industry summaries emphasize that above‑average night temperatures during reproductive growth can reduce yield by cutting both kernel number and kernel weight.
Overnight lows staying near or above 70°F for several nights in a row mean the crop is never fully resetting. Plants are starting each day with less cushion, which raises the odds that the combination of high daytime SDDs and warm nights quietly trims grain fill, even in fields that still look reasonable from the road.
Dryland vs. Irrigated:
The next ridge of high pressure will not treat all fields the same. The difference between dryland and irrigated acres is not whether they will feel hot – it is how much margin they have to ride through it.
In rain‑fed systems, SDD totals and warm nights are strong signals that the crop’s stress budget is tightening. As SDD totals approach or cross the 140 mark, long‑term data says it becomes much harder to finish above trend yield unless the field has had unusually good moisture luck. Fields that already rolled hard in earlier heat, carry shallow roots, or sit on lighter soils are the most vulnerable as this next ridge sets in.
Irrigation changes how plants experience the same air temperature. A full soil profile allows corn to keep stomata open longer, maintain transpiration, and keep the canopy cooler internally even when air temperatures exceed 86°F. That means irrigated fields generally tolerate higher SDD totals before showing the same level of yield penalty, because water is available to support photosynthesis instead of forcing the plant to shut down.
However, irrigation does not fully erase the impact of warm nights. Canopy cooling from irrigation is helpful, but it does not pull nighttime air temperatures back out of the 70s and 80s. Respiration “tax” from warm nights still applies under irrigation, so kernel weight can still be trimmed in sticky night patterns – just usually less severely than in fields that are stressed for moisture.
What to Watch:
Given the forecast for another strong ridge and high‑heat pattern across much of the region, the best use of scouting time over the next 7–10 days is to sort fields by stress response rather than by headline temperatures.
Watch warm nights as closely as highs. Note fields where overnight lows stay above 70 °F for several nights in a row, especially where pollination is wrapping up and grain fill is underway. Those are the acres most likely to see subtle yield drag from respiration even if daytime stress looks manageable.
Separate dryland and irrigated risk. On dryland, focus on lighter soils, uneven emergence pockets, and fields with shallow rooting that already showed stress earlier in the month. On irrigated acres, focus on timing and adequacy of sets around tassel and early grain fill; fields that slipped behind in irrigation timing may show more kernel number loss than neighbors.
References
- Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. “Water Stress in Corn: Estimating from Stress Degree Days (SDD).” Integrated Crop Management.
- Midwestern Regional Climate Center / Purdue University Extension. “About the Modified Stress Degree Day Product for Corn.”
- Ohio State University Agronomic Crops Network. “Hot Night Temperatures Can Decrease Corn Yield.”
The Earfull July 20, 2026
As Fungicide Season Moves from Discussion to Decision
Across much of the Renk sales area, fungicide season in corn and soybeans is no longer a planning conversation. It is an active decision window. Some acres are already being sprayed. Others are being watched closely as fields move into tassel, early silking, flowering, and beginning pod. That makes this a good week to simplify the discussion. The question is not whether fungicides can work. The question is where they still fit, what conditions deserve quicker action, and which acres should probably not be forced into a pass just because the calendar says it is fungicide time.
This also feels like one of those weeks when general disease talk can outrun actual field conditions. That usually happens when the topic is timely and the crop is entering a sensitive stage. A better approach is to sort fields by crop stage, disease pressure, field history, and remaining yield potential. When those pieces line up, fungicide can still be one of the in-season management tools. When they do not, the recommendation gets harder to defend.
Corn
Corn should still get the first look in many geographies because a lot of acres are entering or approaching the highest-value fungicide window right now. The long-standing emphasis has been that the main leaves worth protecting are the ear leaf and the leaves above it, because those leaves contribute roughly 75 to 90 percent of the carbohydrates needed for grain fill. This is one reason tassel through early silking remains the practical decision window in so many agronomy conversations.
Start scouting immediately prior to tasseling. Check lower leaves up through the ear leaf. If disease is not present below the ear leaf, a fungicide application may not be warranted, and weekly scouting may be a better move than reacting too early. That fits the broader Midwest reality well. Fungicides are not especially forgiving when they are applied too early, and most products are effective for only about 14 to 21 days. Since corn still has a long stretch from silking to maturity, early sprays can lose value before the crop reaches its most important grain fill period.
A few corn checks matter right now
- Confirm actual crop stage by field, not just by windshield appearance.
- Start with corn-on-corn, higher-residue, and more disease-prone hybrid situations first, because those fields carry more foliar disease risk in a typical Midwest system.
- Watch whether lesions are staying well below the ear leaf or beginning to move into the part of the canopy that matters most during grain fill.
- Keep the duration of protection in mind. A spray made too early may not still be carrying enough activity when disease risk matters most.
Be realistic about field potential. Fungicide protects stronger corn better than it rescues stressed corn.
The main point in corn is still discipline. It is easy to talk a field into a fungicide application when disease discussion gets loud. It is more useful to ask whether the field has the disease setup, crop stage, and yield potential that give the pass a reasonable chance to return.
Soybeans
Soybeans deserve the same kind of discipline, even if the conversation usually trails corn. Across much of the region, the key soybean question is whether fields are moving into the R3 window with enough disease risk and enough yield potential left to justify a fungicide trip. That is usually a better question than simply asking whether fungicide is being applied nearby.
That matters in soybeans because fungicide decisions are often influenced by habit. A clean-looking field can still be treated because the operation usually sprays beans at a certain stage. But resistance-management principles argue for a more selective approach. Tank mixes with different modes of action, avoiding reduced rates, and keeping applications tied to real disease pressure are all part of protecting chemistry performance over time.
A few soybean checks matter right now
- Focus first on fields nearing the main reproductive fungicide window and with a history of foliar disease pressure.
- Prioritize fields where canopy density, field history, and longer periods of leaf wetness are more likely to support disease development.
- Keep scouting consistent enough that fungicide decisions are tied to incidence and severity, not just to habit or timing on the calendar.
- Avoid reduced rates and avoid leaning on the same mode of action repeatedly, especially where multiple passes are being discussed.
- Treat fungicide as a crop-protection tool, not an automatic bonus-bushel pass.
Soybean fungicide can still fit very well in the right fields. The better message this week is simply to stay selective. Build the recommendation from disease threat, field history, and crop stage rather than from routine alone.
What likely happens next
For the next seven to ten days, fungicide activity will likely remain in corn and continue to build in soybeans as more acres move into the reproductive window. The strongest near-term fit should remain in corn fields at tassel or early silking where foliar disease is present or likely to move into the upper canopy. Soybean decisions will stay more variable from one field to the next because disease development is often less uniform and stewardship matters more when pressure is not yet obvious.
This is why the most useful agronomy conversations right now are still the simpler ones. Rank fields. Confirm stage. Revisit field history. Decide where disease risk is real. Protect the acres that still have clear yield to defend. Then avoid turning fungicide timing into a routine trip in fields that don’t show enough evidence to support it.
References
- Before applying fungicides to corn: Stop! Look! Consider! — ear leaf protection, scouting before tassel, 14 to 21 day activity, corn-on-corn risk, and economics of fungicide use — Iowa State University Extension — crops.extension.iastate.edu
- Fungicide resistance management in corn, soybean, and wheat in Wisconsin — FRAC groups, resistance risk, scouting-based field history, alternating modes of action, and avoiding curative or reduced-rate use — University of Wisconsin Extension — corn.agronomy.wisc.edu
- Before applying fungicides to corn: Stop! Look! Consider! — hybrid susceptibility, disease position in the canopy, and why timing matters more than simply being early — Iowa State University Extension — crops.extension.iastate.edu
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