Chad Lee, Extension Agronomist, Plant and Soil Sciences
Much of Kentucky has turned hot and dry at the worst
possible time for corn. About half of the corn crop was silking or complete with silking as of July 5,
2010, according to the
USDA Crop and Weather Report. Corn is most sensitive to stress around silking and blister development. In
addition, corn uses the most water at silking, as much as
0.35 inches per day.
Pollen shed and pollination is improved when temperatures
are mild. The majority of pollen is shed in the morning after the dew has
dried. A second release of pollen may occur in the late afternoon or early
evening as temperatures cool again. The hot, dry weather we are currently
experiencing does not favor good pollination. The hot weather will tend to dry
out both the pollen and the silks. Temperatures above
100 F can kill pollen.
The good news is that most corn fields will pollinate for
about 14 days and most pollen shed occurs when temperatures are a little
cooler. So, even when conditions are hot and dry, the corn plant will attempt
to work around those poor conditions. The bad news is that high temperatures
seem to quicken pollen shed. Taking the good with the bad: each field still has
a chance for successful pollination.
For corn that was through pollination before things turned
dry, abortion of kernels is a possibility. The corn plant will recognize that
water reserves are low and abort kernels near the tip of the ear, first. Very
high plant populations can increase the water stress and increase kernel
abortion.
What can you do about
it? Unless you have irrigation, not much can be done on the agronomics. If
you are marketing the current crop on the futures, you might want to be more
cautious with your yield targets. Of course, a good rain in the next couple
days will solve most of our problems.
Sources:
Kentucky Weekly Crop and Weather Update. July 5, 2010.
