Spoiled Corn

One of the things we here from many of our customers is how much better thier corn dries down and that grain storage problems go away. I don't have independent testing to prove this, but in apples, mellon, and many other fruit crops, high calcium content is highly correlated to longer storage life.

Could use of SuperCal 98G and SuperCal SO4 have prevented this disaster?

One of my freinds sent me this picture reportedly from Northwest Iowa:

Whether your a corn farmer, cooperative member, employee, or consumer grain quality should be as important as quantity. As a corn farmer and cooperative member, if you can't get the grain to market you lose, as an employee of the cooperative being exposed to that much mold, bacteria and fungas can't be good, and as consumers we all lose, since most of it will be blended in with good grain and end up in our food.

If anyone knows anymore information about this picture, I'd love to talk with you, we may be able to help. High quality and high quanitity start with the soil!

I believe this picture may be from Latimer, IA (east side of 35 on Hwy 3). 2 weeks ago the grain pile at Goldfield looked like it could get like this, but they were working hard on moving it out.

Have heard rumors that there are many locations with similar situations. This will be very widespread by the time we get to the summer, and I anticipate a premium being paid for #1 yellow corn!

Hi craig/ larry bonnell here.we are having corn turned away from elevators around here because of mold and others.seems funny that i broadcast150 to 200 lb of gypsum on my ground before i no tillcorn into it. i pllanted 104 day varietysand used urea and nutrasphere for the nitrogen.my corn didnt dry down like it does normally.usually it dryed to 16 % but this year it started at 22% and ended up at 21% 3 weeks later.all the corn had very little mold .elevator told me to keep bringing it in. many elevators in around here kept refusing load after load..I even heard that some loads were taken to the landfills.dont know if gypsum had anything to do with it i am going to keep using gypsum and pell lime thanks larry

We are amazed at the number of piles we see that are orange in fall and black by mid-winter. I agree better plant nutrition and drier corn are part of the solution, but there are superior temporary storage options available that would have saved this pile. If 1.5 mil bushels were lost, the cost of a new building (fully loaded) would have paid for itself 6 times over!