The Great Corn Watch Days 6-8

My anemometer quit on me, but Anna was quite pleased to have her own "camera."

And I found this friend under an auger hopper. I liked his pretty red color especially.

On day 7 I again tried Rod's corn...
...and went down to Hugoton for a load of seed.
And returned to find Anna entertaining Mark.

On day 8 I went to look at some secondary hail damage (exacerbated by the wet weather,) like sprouting...
...and aflotoxins...
...and more sprouting...
...and more mold.
I was really impressed with the late plant health, all things considered.
And a little surprised to find that the corn had reached physiological maturity. This is the point where the corn kernels are done putting on weight. You can tell this has happened quite easily because of the "black layer" formation at the base of the kernel (see below.) This layer seals off the kernel from the plant. This is a pretty good indication that I need to pull the combine over and see if this corn is ready for 'wet' harvest. Often times we harvest wet corn before it has reached black layer. Could the Great Corn Watch be over so soon? (Hint: I probably wouldn't have given it a name if this were the case.)

Jim came over later to pick up the seed I had brought from Hugoton.