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Corn ear development issues reported in Nebraska
Photo courtesy UNL Cropwatch and Roger Elmore
Problems with corn ear development are showing up in southern Nebraska.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension educator Jenny Rees says she’s received numerous reports of ear formation issues across a wide stretch of southern Nebraska. Symptoms include dumbbell-shaped ears, short husks and multiple ears per node or bouquet ears.
Rees says it appears to be a combination of a specific genetic line of so-called “race-horse hybrids” and plant stress resulting from an early July windstorm.
“One thing that we noticed in all the fields is a loss of the primary ear—and because of that we believe that’s what then resulted in the strange ear formations that occurred,” Rees says.
It’s too early to determine just how much overall yields will be affected, Rees says. But when combined with greater-than-normal tip back of ears, she thinks it will have an impact.
“There’s a lot of reports that we’re at a record corn crop, but that may not be the case for Nebraska,” she says.
AUDIO: Jenny Rees
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