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Early frost hurt but did not ruin St. Lawrence County’s livestock feed crops

Posted 10/19/14

By CRAIG FREILICH St. Lawrence County farmers’ corn and soybean crops this year are providing yields that are about average, but yields in some places will be lower due to late planting and a …

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Early frost hurt but did not ruin St. Lawrence County’s livestock feed crops

Posted

By CRAIG FREILICH

St. Lawrence County farmers’ corn and soybean crops this year are providing yields that are about average, but yields in some places will be lower due to late planting and a spotty early frost.

That’s the analysis of Dr. Kitty O’Neil, field crops and soils specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County.

“As in any year, some late-started corn was at risk, and this year some of it got frosted before it was mature,” O’Neil said.

But most corn crops in the county, especially from those fields that got planted early enough in a difficult planting season, are just fine.

The chill that rolled into St. Lawrence County the night of Sept. 18 brought the earliest widespread frost in the county in eight years, threatening all manner of crops.

As for the corn, “some got frosted badly enough to stop it in its tracks. But it was spotty, as usual.”

Corn for silage, where the whole plant is chopped and stored, is the most common use of feed corn in St. Lawrence County. It would be harvested more quickly if it got frosted and then allowed to dry on the ground. It does not have to be as dry as kernels before it is stored.

“Silage yields are quite good. The biomass – the weight – is high, but nutrition is still a question,” O’Neil said, since it is to early to measure its nutritional value.

But a fair proportion of corn in the county is harvested in a combine that takes the kernels off the cob before its is stored as feed grain.

If a frost hits and the corn is at the “dent stage” – where each kernel has a little dimple in its surface – it can still be harvested, but with a 25 to 40 percent loss, O’Neil said.

But if the ears are at the later “black layer” stage, where fully mature kernels sit on a layer on the cob that has turned black, “there’s just a little bit of loss.”

After the frost, you might have seen some corn with dry brown leaves, but if it is to be harvested for its kernels it can be can be left standing for a while. “It can continue to dry to the proper moisture, but the kernels will be like loose teeth if it was frosted in earlier development stages.”

The kernels are taken off by combine, and drier kernels are easier to manage. “The combine won’t work if the corn’s too wet, and it also doesn’t store well,” so the kernels would be have to be dried with a heater powered by natural gas or some other fuel, “so it’s better to dry it in the field.”

O’Neil said farmers that raise livestock feed crops in the North Country are not strangers to wet and cold conditions in spring that can delay planting conditions, nor to early frosts that can damage a crop well on its way to maturity.

“We encourage them to plant at least part of their crop in shorter-season varieties” that can be put in the ground later if poor conditions delay normal planting, and then have time to mature and still be taken off before a frost.

“The typical yield will be a little less, but the risk of frost damage is reduced,” O’Neil said.

“Corn will be killed when the temperature is near 32 for a few hours, but near 28 degrees, it takes only a few minutes,” O’Neil said, noting that other factors, such as wind, humidity and the elevation of the land also come into play.

“A light frost will kill some leaves and the corn can still make a little more progress toward full maturity, so where it was in its maturation determines how much loss there will be.”

Soybean crops, which make up a growing share of acreage in St. Lawrence County, also suffered a bit of a setback this year, and ironically, the best-looking fields might have had the most damage.

“It was not super-widespread, but white mold was a problem, and more of a problem in some of the best-looking fields,” O’Neil said.

She explained that the larger plants, with denser growth, were more likely to restrict air circulation in wet conditions, and were subject to the mold in the relatively cool and wet summer. But again, there was probably no major loss.

She believes raising soybeans will continue to increase as a percentage of acreage in the county.

“Soy prices have been quite attractive, and we’ve seen we can grow them up here. Just like corn, if you’re timely getting it in the ground, you can get them off before the first frost.”

“Overall, forage yields look good, for corn and soy in those fields that were planted on time,” O’Neil said.

And no one is writing off North Country farmers, even if there are occasional setbacks.

“Farmers in the North Country are pretty resilient. They’ve handled problems with drought and excess rain in recent years. They’ll be okay.”