(Snow clouds blowing in)
We had the corn tested and the moisture went UP…it’s so damp here. It’s now at 15.6% ….in order to harvest it the moisture HAS to be below 14%. We have so hoped to start Monday, but that isn’t going to happen.
The weather channel has this to say:
…STRONG PACIFIC STORM TO IMPACT THE REGION FROM SATURDAY NIGHT
THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK…
EARLY INDICATIONS ARE THAT THIS STORM IS LIKELY TO BRING PERIODS OF WIDESPREAD SNOWFALL TO THE MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH…WITH RAIN AND THEN SNOW FOR THE VALLEYS. THIS STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL OF PRODUCING SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW IN MOST MOUNTAIN AREAS…WITH STORM TOTALS OF 1 TO 2 FEET BY LATE IN THE DAY WEDNESDAY. IN ADDITION…STRONG SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS MAY CAUSE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.
Harvest is just going to have to wait.
We have a couple of worries now, besides the weather and the moisture and if and when we can harvest, that the wind will blow the corn off the stalks, break the stalks and in general dump all the kernels on the ground where they will be lost forever.
The other worry is that the moisture content will stay so high that the ears will mold. It they mold we are done, you can’t harvest moldy produce.
This has been a pretty bad year for wind anyway; it started in March and has stayed pretty consistent. This will give you an idea of wind tossed stalks. We can still harvest these, but once they twist to the ground it’s over.
So we’ve bedded down the combine and brought the truck back into its place in the yard. It would be wonderful if this storm would just stay on the ski slopes and miss us and dry sunny weather would return.
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 
I will be thinking of you. What a season!
LikeLike
Well the photo may be snow clouds but it’s sure pretty! And I’m so sorry you haven’t been able to harvest your corn. That’s rough. Have you ever had to wait this late in the year before? I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for a semi-warm dry week!
LikeLike
New visitor to your blog here!
I wish you the best of luck with your corn, my Dad farms in Maryland and it was well into December before he was able to get his corn crop in. He too encountered some mold problems.
This year he has gotten all of the corn in but he had to harvest some by hand. Yes BY HAND. Some areas of the fields were just too wet to even think about driving a tractor into so down the rows he went pulling ears. Our ground has a lot of clay and holds moisture like CRAZY.
Good luck with everything!
LikeLike
If its not one thing its another! It seems to go from one extreme to the next. Never a happy medium 😦 Will be thinking of you and hopefully like the hubby said you will be able to harvest it in January if you can keep it standing and not get moldy. I remember the winds out in Illinois and there is no mountains to hold back some of the wind and I can remember having field upon field layed out flat! Not a pretty sight that is for sure.
LikeLike
Sorry the weather isn’t cooperating. We had 40mph winds here yesterday. Snow predicted today but not yet. Moldy crops are bad, bad news.
LikeLike
My heart goes out to you…..hopefully you can get it harvested and sooner rather than later!! That dang snow can just go around you!
LikeLike
Praying this storm passes you by. Farming is a business that has no end of twists and turns.
~Faith
LikeLike
I hope the snow and wind pass you by and it dries out so you can get your corn harvested. It is so frustrating at times to be at the mercy of the weather! We are expecting snow in the range of 3-6 inches here Sat and Sun with temps falling to below zero for the first time this winter. It was 7F this morning and never warmed up above 12F all day. Your photos for this post are wonderful as are your explantions of the how’s and why’s of your weather fears. Keep warm and dry!
LikeLike
Oh I’m so sorry, Linda…. This has not been your year… Of course, every year is different and when you are into farming, it’s ALL about Mother Nature… Hope the storm misses you..
Hugs,
Betsy
LikeLike
Hopefully after a week or so the weather will improve for you. You just cannot control the weather…it is windy here too..just terrible 40mph plus today:(
LikeLike
Linda, I am keeping my finger’s crossed and pray you are able to get the corn harvest in as soon as possible. Low twenties here this morning, snow flakes yesterday, Old Man Winter is on his way. Sending blessings your way and a little sunshine!
LikeLike
Best of luck with the weather, Linda – We’ll be thinking about you guys!
LikeLike
Prayers headed your way.
Too bad there isn’t a way to dry thousands of tons of corn off the stalk—sort of like they do coffee beans or tobacco.
LikeLike
I wish I could send you some of the dry weather we’ve had this year. Your trials in getting in the corn shows that farming is not for the faint-hearted. Our prayers for dry weather are with you.
LikeLike
My thoughts and prayers are with you! Hopefully the snow will stay away–one can wish! We are to get your cold weather but no moisture forecasted. Still have one field of cotton to get out. Our weather is windy and warm–77 F. this afternoon! Weather is so unpredictable…we just have to do what we can, don’t we?
Your pictures are really pretty of the cornfields and snow clouds. Take care.
Blessings!
CottonLady
LikeLike
Gosh, we have so much dry weather and I wish I could share. I do love your storm cloud photo Linda.
LikeLike
Good luck, we got the same advisory for our western drivers on our qualcom..
LikeLike
Here’s hoping the moisture drops and you can harvest your corn crop. Snowing here through Tuesday. Maybe most of the moisture will fall out here before you get the snowy weather. We’re having lots of power outages. Happy Thanksgiving!
LikeLike
I enjoy your pics and all. Sorry about the inability to harvest the crop though. Here in SW Iowa the crops are all harvested but it was a different story last year when tens of thousands of acres of corn stood in snow drifts all winter. We had a very wet fall and harvesting was impossible before winter hit.
In the spring of ’10, after sufficient melting of snow and while the ground was still hard, the harvest began. Happily, there was little loss and and at 12 % they didn’t have to artificially dry the grain. Hope it turns out as well for you. Blessings.
LikeLike