<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2ffx5T_0w08VpfV00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2ffx5T_0w08VpfV00" width="1200" height="900" ><figcaption>It’s GO time! Welcome to the Harvest 2024 show. Submitted photo</figcaption></figure>It's GO time! The harvest 2024 show is here and the combine has been rolling along the corn and soybean acres here in eastern Nebraska.At this time two weeks ago, I didn't picture being this deep into harvest by Oct. 6. It goes to show you don't really know what's happening out there in the field until you dig in with the combine. Hand samples can be so iffy with moisture on such a small portion of the field, so until you start taking some full cuts of a field it's hard to paint the whole picture.We got rolling Sept. 24 on some dryland corn to start the harvest festivities. Moisture was hanging in that 15-16% range, so it was perfect to haul directly into the elevator. We ran a couple days on some dryland cornfields until the moisture started creeping up on us and it was time to switch to some early planted soybeans.The "switching" game is pretty common at the start of the season until the majority of the crop is ready to harvest. Then it seems like a scurry to get it all in before it gets too dry. The crazy part this year is some of those dry grains were already here the first week of October.The word you may hear a lot this harvest is "variability," not just in yields across a pass or field but also the moisture of the grain. With the wet and wild spring we had, it left a lot of replant areas down here in the bottoms. With the combine you can be harvesting a nice, mature crop at 14% moisture and then come upon a spot that we have replanted and that corn can jump up to 20-30% moisture.It makes for some super fun combining because you can't be mixing much of that high moisture content in your grain bins. You have to back up and try a different pass to try to square up the field. Those higher numbers will stay out there to mature in the field, and we’ll return later in the season to pick them.<h2>People are also reading…</h2><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=24a3X1_0w08VpfV00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=24a3X1_0w08VpfV00" width="1662" height="1247" ><figcaption>An east coast of Nebraska sunrise, #harvest24 edition. Submitted photo</figcaption></figure>Soybean harvest has been pretty interesting this year. Yields have been a little better than expected, but they have come with super tough cutting conditions. There is still a lot of green material on the plants, making the combine work harder to get the beans into the hopper.The soybeans themselves have been super dry, though. They’re already down to 8-9% moisture, which is crazy for this early in the season. With the lack of available moisture I'm not all that surprised, though. Such a lack of rain in August and September is really starting to show out in the fields.I remember a lot of harvest days not being able to start harvesting soybeans until 11 or noon, but this harvest we have been able to start cutting tough soybeans around 10-10:30 in the morning.All right, all right, enough about the harvest festivities. When you get down to it, we all have good yields and bad yields, good days and bad days out there. One thing we can't always prevent is breakdowns. We can take all the precautionary measures in getting equipment ready for the field daily, but it takes just one instance or worn out part to make a good day go bad real fast.The "mental" breakdowns are the ones we battle everyday within when things are in a downward spiral. We strategize and plan day in and day out for things to go right, but sometimes they still don't go as planned out in the fields.Check on the people around you – employees, family, friends, and most importantly yourself. You can't harvest the crop all in one day, so take it a day at a time, be careful out there, and take some deep breaths. We're all rooting for you, and the best thing you can do is to do your best during the harvest grind!Happy harvest season, ya'll! – Q</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

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Crop dry down quickly as Nebraska harvest gets rolling

It's GO time! The harvest 2024 show is here and the combine has been rolling along the corn and soybean acres here in eastern Nebraska. At this time two weeks ago, I didn't picture being this deep into harvest by Oct. 6. It goes to show you don't really know what's happening out there in the field until you dig in with the combine. Hand samples can be so iffy with moisture on such a small portion of the field, so until you start taking some full cuts of a field it's hard to paint the whole picture.

Crop dry down quickly as Nebraska harvest gets rolling

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