Kilgus hopes to be in the field soon
FAIRBURY – Local farmers like Matt Kilgus hope to be going strong with the 2022 harvest before the month ends.
The Livingston County farmer thinks he may have some corn down around 20 percent moisture by later this week.
“We might take a little out this week and get the dryers set to make sure everything works as it should,” Kilgus told The Central Illinois Farm Network on Monday.
Kilgus anticipates harvest activity to pick up next week. Just a couple of weeks ago, he thought most of the corn would be harvested before the beans since the beans were so green. Now, it will soon be time to get them out of the field too.
“It looks like we are shaping-up for a harvest where everything is going to be ready at the same time.”
When Kilgus started chopping corn silage in late August, moisture was about just right. Compared to last year, the tonnage was down a couple of tons to the acre.
“Our plants weren’t quite as tall out there,” observed Kilgus.
It was April planted corn they chopped, so it did not have a 100 percent plant stand. Kilgus chopped earlage on May-planted corn last week. This is where the ear is harvested with the corn head while still going through the silage chopper.
“That May-planted corn did crop adjust about 25 bushels better than the April,” added Kilgus.
The Kilguses put about 1200 tons of silage in a pile covered by a big tarp and it is also put into a couple of 300-foot bags. They filled a bag with earlage as well.
“We kind of feed that in conjunction with the corn silage,” explained Kilgus.
Kilgus is a dealer for Integrated Seed Solutions which carries the Stone Seed line of products. He recently hosted a plot tour where growers gathered in the farm shop for a virtual presentation where company representatives reviewed the various seed options, including the traited and non-GMO lineup.
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