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Hutcheson: crops should be decent despite some yield-limiting stress

A product manager with Ohio-based Seed Consultants says some crops in the Eastern Corn Belt are showing signs of stress.  

Matt Hutcheson tells Brownfield “crops overall are going to be decent but there are definitely some issues that we’ve seen in the fields. We’ve had stress throughout the entire growing season. During early fieldwork and planting there were some wet conditions and heavy rainfall leading to compaction and root restrictions that will likely affect yields. We also had heat during pollination and grain fill so there is tip back in some corn and aborted kernels on the ears. And lately while walking plots in the last couple of weeks, we noticed some Ear Rot start to develop including Gibberella and Diplodia.”

He says yields will likely be impacted.

“Although we’ve had plenty of moisture in a lot of areas of the Eastern Corn Belt, we have had stress throughout the year that is going to be yield-limiting and farmers may see that in the combine if they haven’t been back through the field to scout,” he says. “I don’t think it’s going to be a terrible year and I think there are some areas where they may not have had as many stress problems and the yield will be decent there, but I do think we’ve got some factors that have limited our yield and taken the top end off it this year.”   

Brownfield interviewed Hutcheson during the 2022 Farm Science Review, where he spoke with customers about some new Seed Consultants products.

“We have some new corn and soybean varieties that we’ve had a chance to look at in plots and small amounts in fields,” he says. “We’re discussing how they’ll fit into growers’ operations and the benefits and advantages we see to those new products.”

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Audio: Matt Hutcheson