harvest imperatives

the poke weed is in full autumn colors and so is the dense yellow #2...even the biomass growing down the rows has died back ( that would be the fourth photo )...the agronomists at purdue university tell me that now is the time to begin the harvest...their research shows crop loss due to fallen ears, insect damage, and toppled plants to start at a rate of 1% a week from mid-october, accelerating to 2% a week by mid-november...it gets even worse than that into december ( and i have seen local harvests run that late )...toss in the forecast of the possibility of rain off and on over the next ten days and the impetus is there...plus those kernels have begun to lose moisture...at the grain elevator the grain is measured in bushels but bushels are determined by weight...70# for a bushel of field corn...lost moisture = lost weight = lost revenue...i will be out tot his field next weekend...wondering if i will find a crop or stubble.