Cooler Nights Should Spur Corn Growth

BY DeLOSS JAHNKE, FARM WEEK NOW.COM

This year’s corn crop looks like it could be another bin buster, and it should receive some help in the second half of July.

“This time of the year, the corn plant switches using about a tenth of an inch of rain a day in the vegetative stages to needing three-tenths of an inch each day,” said Michael Gill, crop nutrient technical manager for GROWMARK Agronomy. “Then it comes down to making carbohydrates to the ear while we make grain.

“Sometimes that can be a challenge when we have warm days and warm nights. The corn plant expends a lot more energy at night trying to maintain its own health, using some of the carbohydrates that could have gone toward yield.”

Gill, who this week is traveling the state for the cooperative’s Agronomy Days, said the crop is in good shape, and that this week’s cooler nighttime temperatures can provide an even bigger boost.

“The cooling looks to last longer than I expected,” said Freese-Notis meteorologist Dan Hicks. “Looking ahead, there are no signs of unusually hot weather coming back into the Midwest, even out through the six- to 10-day time frame.”