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Farmers, agronomists watch for corn germination issues

Some farmers and agronomists in the Upper Midwest are concerned that corn fields planted just prior to late April’s freezing temperatures could have germination problems.

“We’re going to be watching the April 23^rd and 24^th dates,” says Joel DeJong, Extension crops specialist in northwest Iowa. “That’s when we had a really cold spell shortly after planting and that’s the time period we were maybe a little more concerned about imbibitional chilling.  So we’re going to watch over the next few days to see how emergence from those planting dates has been.”

Dejong says some of the corn planted earlier in April was also hurt by the cold and wet conditions, but he thinks most of it will be okay.

“They struggled. You can see tissue damage on the shoot from those 22 degree temperatures and the really cold nights we had in the mix,” he says. “But it looks like most of them did get above ground and they’re leafing out okay.”

Dennis Morrice, KLEM Radio, Le Mars, Iowa contributed to this story.