Done Already

The last corn field was picked Friday, November 3rd. Not only have we never been done this early, having all our crops binned by early November is an outcome we have intentionally avoided. Nonetheless, it happened. An explanation seems appropriate. 

Reason one. Limited moisture during the growing season coupled with a warm September and October accelerated crop maturity. As a result, bean and corn harvest both started a couple weeks early. 

Reason two. Although we have started to see more moisture, there have been less than five days since September 1st that we were unable to harvest. Weather has been cooperative for getting work done.

Reason three. Lower moisture content in corn allows us to harvest more acres per day. Higher moisture levels in the grain mean lower ground speeds, more truck loads, and more time in the dryer. The dryer capacity of 18% moisture corn is four times the throughput of 25% moisture corn. At each phase in the system, dry corn is easier to handle. 

Reason four. Our efforts to improve capacity and efficiency are fully realized. The mature facilities, McIntire and Meyer, are well maintained and like an old friend, their quirks are known. Breakdowns are quickly diagnosed and short lived. Oakdale has been in use long enough to have the glitches resolved and new enough that it seldom breaks down. Our daily capacity to process grain has never been greater.

Reason five. We are perfecting management of multiple harvest crews. Plotting the distance from field to bin site, allocating trucks and grain carts to keep combines moving, and monitoring bin levels so space fills evenly takes practice and skill. The parts are in place to safely and consistently move over 100,000 bushels daily from field to facility.

Finally, lower yields due to the dry growing conditions allows us to cover more acres per day. At 4000 bushels per hour, a crew can cover 23 acres of 175 bushel corn vs. 16 acres of 250 bushel corn.     

So, there you go. Early harvest + cooperative weather + dryer grain + more capacity + improved logistics + lower yields = Record completion date

This was not the growing season we expected or hoped for. On the other hand, we gain more knowledge (and humility) from the experiences we don't anticipate. An occasional short crop and ensuing early harvest has its rewards. 

Jim

Mark Wagner restores a waterway on Eagan

Roger Mayer finishes burying rocks on Bruns.