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Rain prompts some corn, grain sorghum, corn kernels to sprout

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It's 2008 all over again as the weeks of rainfall that prevented harvest are prompting corn and sorghum kernels to sprout on the stal k, said Jason Kelley, extension-agronomist for wheat and feed grai ns for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.

Don Plunkett, Jefferson County extension staff chair for the UA Division of Agriculture put it this way: "Harvest came to a sudden and disagreeable standstill a week and a half ago."

Kernels in corncobs have been sprouting in the fields, some at the tips of the ear, where they're exposed to water, and some at the base of the ear.

"If it has a loose shuck, it's kind of like a bucket, there's no where for the water to go" so it holds water, providing the kernels plenty of moisture to grow, Kelley said.

"In reality, this is identical to the problems last year when the remnants of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike came through," he said.

Arkansas growers planted 45,000 acres of sorghum, down from 70,000 acres last year, he said. According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, 35 percent of the crop had been harvested and 96 percent of the crop was mature. There were 410,000 acres of corn this year, down from last year's 440,000 acres, NASS said.

Sorghum growers who had heen waiting for the grain to dry to deliver to the terminal, are now facing the situation where they may be trying to find a market for their grain.

'"A lot of our 'grain sorghum is ? exported and they want No. 1 and No. 2grade sorghum," Kel-ley said. "Once it's sprouted, it's considered to be damaged kernel s. It's sample grade, which is a much lower grade and there is just not a local marketforpoorquality grain sorghum."

Last year, sorghum growers sold some of the sprouted grain as livestock feed out-of-state to cattle producers.

"We had some of the same questions last year" from cattlemen, said Shane Gadberry, assistant professor-ruminant nutrition for the UA Division of Agriculture.

On the positive side, the sprouted grain would be inexpensive feed for cattle, but "there are a few things to be concerned about. The first would be the risk of myco-toxins," he said.

Mycotoxins are poisons produced by some types of fungi that attack the grain, a possibility during wet conditions. Mycotoxins are not just a concern with the grain in the field, but also when storage conditions promotefungal growth.

"The next concern is what the actual nutritional value of the sprouted feed would be since there are no standard nutrient val ues for sprouted grains as a feedstuff," he said; "And willing buyers must decide if the amount purchased is sufficient to make analysis worthwhile."

As for corn growers, rain made it a tough season.

"Rain early in the season made it difficult to get corn planted, or in many instances, replanted," Kelley said. "Continued rain early in the season impacted growth and further delayed fertilizer applications, leading to reduced yields in many areas of the state.

"Now, the cool, wet weather has delayed harvest three weeks or more," he said. "Overall, state yields will be down, but there is still some good corn being produced this year."

Jeff Welch, Lonoke county extension staff chair for the UA Division of Agriculture, painted a similar picture for his county.,

"We're probably 30 to 35 bushels off what we need to be," he said. "That doesn't mean we're not profitable. If we've been very frugal in our costs, especially for fertilizerand pesticides, weshould still be able to make some sort of profit."



Copyright 2009 DeWitt Era-Enterprise, DeWitt, Arkansas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2009 DeWitt Era-Enterprise DeWitt, Arkansas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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