Puzzled

[gil.gullickson]

All,

I was walking my corn field in NE South Dakota last week and ran across isolated places like this in the field. Maybe 2% of the field affected, I think?

In these areas, the stalk is broken. Thought it might be greensnap/brittlesnap, but there's no rhyme or reason to the pattern. Would disease cause it to snap about 3 feet or so above the stalk like that? Corn looks super otherwise except for these areas. 

Best,

Gil Gullickson

Crops Technology Editor

Successful Farming 

[WCMO]

Mine looks kind of like that where deer pulled on leaves and broke over the stalks, or where bucks have thrashed a few stalks with their antlers, but its mostly just on outside rows.

Guess 1) wildlife -- should be tracks

Guess 2) hail -- should be signs also on some leaves

Guess 3) corn/stalk borer stalk tunneling -- should be tunnels in stalk

Guess 4) aliens

[cityslicker]

Not too much puzzling in S Audubon and N Cass counties in Iowa. Green Snap mostly occurred June 28 and 30. If fields show it from a windshield survey probably at least 50%. My brother and I have been at this since 1976 and have never had more than an annoyance of green snap until this year. Extremely rapid growth and not quite tasseling. If the plants didn’t break where your pics show they are just fine. No pattern three or four standing and 10 broken and visa  versa. Won’t be a huge crop here especially if we don’t get a little rain in the next week or so. Soybeans are now aborting the last pods

[Blacksandfarmer]

Looks like wildlife damage to me.

[sw363535]

I'm with cityslicker,  My guess is green snap from rapid growth.  Along with some vey gusty wind,  I think that is a common extreme issue across the midwest.

And that can make the green snap vey random across a field depending on the growth stage per stalk. 

sw always has those winds early and we see occasional gr. snap every year.

This year when the corn took off it sprinted to tassel.  Just takes a gust from a thunderstorm at the right time.

very early tasseling is not a great sign.

SW --we had fertilizer damage from the late cold and dry conditions.  The surviving corn got into that strip-til fertilizer fast and never slowed down as the 100 degree heat came quick in May.

conditions were right for abnormal green snap.