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Southwest Minnesota farmer says he’s never seen corn stressed this much in June

A farmer in southwest Minnesota says he’s never seen drought stress in corn this early in the growing season.

Matt Widboom of Worthington tells Brownfield barely an inch of rain has fallen since he finished planting around the beginning of May.

“I talked with my dad whose been farming for 60 years and (asked) him if he’d ever seen corn stressed so much in June when it was only knee-high, it was already rolling up to pineapple level. We’re used to seeing that in August, but not when we’re at knee-high.”

Widboom is concerned about yield limitations as corn enters the critical pollination phase.

“A lot of this corn is shoulder-high and will be tasseling within a few days, so I’ve never seen that (kind of stress).”

He says soybeans appear to be struggling too, but jokes the waterhemp is looking superb no matter how many times it’s been sprayed.