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Agronomist concerned about stalk quality, tip back as harvest approaches

An agronomist says he’s concerned drought has impacted crop integrity.  

Kris Young with AgriGold tells Brownfield tip back and kernel depth could have the biggest impact on yields in areas of the Western Corn Belt. “When you look at the Drought Monitor, that really tells the story. Most of the western part of Nebraska and the western two-thirds of Kansas,” he says. “Southern Missouri very hard stricken and then you have some areas in Iowa and the southern part of South Dakota even hurting with the heat and drought. It’s impacting several of the corn acres in the west.”

He says parts of that region have high kernel counts, but a mid-August heat wave could affect standability. “Sometime that can make that plant shutdown and cannibalize itself.  There will be some stalk rot in that corn just as a result.  Growers need to be aware that if they did have some pretty good corn going into that heat stress period, most likely they will encounter some stalk rot issues.”

Young says farmers should scout fields now and prioritize fields that have standability concerns for harvest.

Kris Young with AgriGold: