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Downed corn yielding 220bpa in SE Minnesota

A Minnesota farmer says he’s harvesting downed corn that’s yielding well over 200 bushels per-acre.

Several tornadoes and damaging winds stormed through southeast Minnesota last week, flattening buildings and crops.

Kurt Schrader of Nerstrand tells Brownfield it’s been a rough start to harvest.

“I’ve never seen a storm (like this).  Not only is the corn laying over, (the storm) blew the corn cobs right off the stalks.”

The Schrader’s have prioritized fields with the most damage.

Remarkably, he says yields have been consistently around 220 bushels per acre.

“We had some really good growing conditions.  And despite all of our mishaps, it’s been exceptionally well, even as bad as it looks.”

Schrader says they’ve had to harvest in one direction, slow down, and lower the corn head below where it normally is, which led to a minor breakdown, in an effort to capture as many kernels as possible.