This picture was submitted by Tom of Wisconsin. This combine is taking a break from its harvest to offload its bin. You can see that corn has filled its bin above the top of the combine. Often, farmers will park a grain cart at the end of the field that they are harvesting so they can unload their crop quickly. Some farmers will actually have a grain cart drive right alongside with the combine, so the combine can constantly dump its crop into the grain cart. Driving a cart alongside of a combine will save time when harvesting, but can add compaction to the soil since heavy machinery is being driven across the field.

Corn harvest is roughly 80% complete in many states, although high moisture levels have been reported all across the Corn Belt. The USDA recently estimated Iowa’s moisture level of corn still in the field at 23%, while harvested corn is at 20%. Ideal moisture levels of corn are around 15%.

Remember, we are always looking for more agricultural pictures from anywhere in the world. Submit pictures to farmlandforecast@colvin-co.com.