Quality and handling of the 2014 Iowa crop

Abstract

<p>Every year brings on a new set of challenges for harvest and grain management. In the past five years we have gone from very wet to very dry. Scorching heat at the very end of the 2013 season caused large variations in quality even within the same field. In 2014, planting pace was about normal, temperatures were 1-3 degrees below normal and moisture was well above normal—especially in the August and September grain fill period. Western and southwestern Iowa were 3-6 inches over normal for moisture in this period. This combination of weather conditions put the 2014 crop 7-10 days behind normal maturity.</p>