As harvest season approaches in Vincennes, Ind., the region brings unique challenges for growers in the area. For Ray McCormick, this is nothing he hasn’t dealt with before. But even with the experience he has, no two seasons are ever exactly the same

Phantom Yield Loss

This year, one particular issue McCormick is paying close attention to is phantom yield loss. It can be an issue for regions that have a large variance of moisture levels, but McCormick says it’s all about knowing how much moisture is too much and how much is not enough. 

McCormick says in his fields, he was always accustomed to harvesting his corn when it was very dry and putting it straight into the bin. But after attending a field day last year and examining some tests that his friend conducted, McCormick began to realize that it may be smarter to harvest corn while it is still at a high moisture level. 

“When you're picking pretty dry corn, you can see a lot of dust in front of your head and research has shown that those kernels are turning to where you shell them, they just turned to dust,” McCormick says. “Also, I saw little, tiny chips all over the ground. And it turns out those were these kernels that had died and deteriorated to the point where they just turned to dust when you picked them. So, I believe phantom yield loss comes from deteriorating kernels on the ear.”