• Article Photo. There was no ear loss at Hanson farm even though late rains delayed harvest until spring.
    There was no ear loss at Hanson farm even though late rains delayed harvest until spring.
  • Article Photo. Despite being forced to wait unitl spring to Harvest, the Hanson corn crop benefitted from delay.
    Despite being forced to wait unitl spring to Harvest, the Hanson corn crop benefitted from delay.

 

Like many farmers in Benton County and around Iowa last year, the Hanson family dealth with late planting because of spring rains as well as a harvest season interrupted by frequent rains and early snows.
So the field north of Vinton that is farmed by the Dell Hanson family– like more than 200,000 acres of other cornfields across Iowa – remained unharvested at the end of 2009.
But unlike many other farmers, the Hansons experienced only the benefits of waiting until spring to harvest their corn.
Dell Hanson said that the winter weather did only good things for the crop.
“We had no ear loss and our moisture went from 20 to 12 percent,” he said.
Greg Walston of the Benton County Extension Service said the main key to having standing corn survive the winter is that the plants are mature before freezing. Inmature crops will maintain their moisture and are more likely to have other problems.
Winter weather, including wind and snow, as well as the threat of animals eating the grain, are also factors for many farmers, Walston said.
The longer corn stands out, the higher percentage of ears fall off the stalk. And weather-weakened stalks could blow over. Additionally, a mold that appeared on some corn during the past growing season could reappear in the spring and would degrade the standing corn.
Yet this year, the Hansons only reaped the positive results of waiting for a spring harvest.