For the most part, June was very hot month—but how much of that heat impacted Indiana’s corn crops?
“Some fields in Indiana are probably stressed enough during the current hot spell to impact the potential for kernel numbers before pollination,” says ‘The Corn Guy’ Bob Nielsen—who is Professor Emeritus of Agronomy at Purdue University.
Nielsen says the recent heat stress could have a negative impact on the early development of Indiana’s corn.
“The combination of unusually warm temperatures for mid-June and moderately low humidities until recent days at least—both of which lead to high rates of soil evaporation and plant transpiration. Brilliant sunlight and either restricted root development or simply small root systems due to the fact that they’re young plants—these kinds of combinations can cause severe stress on young plants,” says Nielsen.
The recent hot spell could mean trouble for corn yields according to Nielsen by limiting the maximum number of kernels. That is, if the soils in those corn fields are uncooperative.
“Those fields would be ones where early root development has been severely compromised to begin with, meaning fields with significant shallow soil compaction due to the wet spring and tillage that we experienced or soils that simply do not allow for deep root development—for example, eroded hillsides,” he says.
Nielsen adds that it’s still early in this ballgame, and there’s still a long way to go with the growing season.
“I began to see crops rolling a week ago on eroded slopes before we had the onset of 90-plus-degree weather. So, certainly, there are fields that are experiencing stress now. We may see a reduction in ovule numbers, but again, depending on how well pollination and early grain-fill proceeds, it may or may not have an effect on final kernel number at harvest.”
Click HERE to read Nielsen’s recent article: Early Season Hot Spell and Corn Grain Yield Potential.
Click BELOW to hear Hoosier Ag Today’s news report featuring “The Corn Guy” Bob Nielsen discussing the impact of June’s heat on Indiana’s corn crops.
