It will bend or burst for the corn

Stormy weather is forecast in the coming days. From tonight (Tuesday 25 August) until tomorrow afternoon it will probably not storm over the Netherlands as violently as on September 13, 2017, when a lot of harvest-ready silage maize snapped. What to do if the corn pops again tomorrow?

On September 13, 2017, in the middle of the day, there was a full storm of wind force 9 on the coast for hours and gusts in the interior reached 90 to 100 kilometers per hour. That caused thousands of hectares of crushed corn.

Trees full in the leaf
The summer storm that will blow over the next 36 hours will probably not be that severe, but it will certainly not remain without consequences this time either. Because the trees are still full of leaves, branches blow off faster. Trees that have died due to drought will certainly also blow over when the wind reaches speeds of 90-100 kilometers per hour.

Such strong gusts are probably not measured inland, and certainly not for hours on end, as on September 13, 2017. It will probably remain above land with strong winds that persist for hours, 6 on the Beaufort scale with gusts of up to 75 kilometers per hour.

Green corn more sensitive
The crushed maize was not all chopped at lightning speed in the days after September 13, 2017. But if the maize has been broken into 2 parts by a storm, immediate chopping is best, says maize cultivation specialist Mark de Beer of the consultancy Groeikracht Zuid. It is better to coarsely chop crushed corn. If the crop remains bent and already lying there, there is a risk that fungi will affect the feed value.

If only the tops have blown out of the maize or if only a small part of the maize is damaged, De Beer recommends waiting for the correct dry matter percentage. A fully matured lignified crop is less susceptible to storm damage than green maize that has yet to ripen.

Duration of risk
The September 13, 2017 storm came early in the season. Normally, a storm of this size does not occur until October and November, when the air pressure differences have increased due to the approaching winter.

A real storm in August is even rarer, although the cold August month of 1956 had no fewer than 4. That month was not allowed to have the name 'summer'. Summer storms can be intense, but generally last less than severe winter storms. Therein also lies the greatest risk of the storm that is now approaching: the duration.

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