Question about corn

[wglassfo]

Most of our corn had a pale yellow colour until the rain stopped, about 10 days-2 weeks ago

On my crop tour today, I would think we are very close to tassel, with a couple showing, here and there

The issue that I wonder about, is our crop damaged a lot or maybe not so much

The reason is because, the corn crop now has a healthy green colour

However, I am guessing this green colour will happen about a week, 10 days, before full pollination

My agronomy is a bit weak, with the amount of rain we have had this yr

So: can corn that suddenly turns green, a week or so before pollination, just look better or can it yield better

We often have kernels that do not develope into corn, [tip back] due to drought,so  maybe this yr, what kernels we do have will develope into corn, or is this wishful thinking

I have no experience with this much rain

I suppose I will know when the cob develops, but I just had to ask the question

[jweiser1925]

This would help:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=em#inbox/14e8d2d4cc8153b4

[timetippingpt]

Wayne we have excellent data from our long-term Cont Corn no-till plot from last year. The extremely yellow corn in June/July from flooding (yes, we had flooding last year too) recovered to normal green a leaf or two before tassel. The corn that was yellow suffered a 40 bu yield decline versus the corn that never yellowed a few rows over out of the ponded area. Before, everyone goes GASP, the yellow turned green averaged 190, versus 230. Average is 185, so 190 wasn't a bad result. It was a few points wetter as well as maturity was delayed some. This was in a small area of the plot where water stands, it was not the whole pass, just for full disclosure.

Our whole farm estimate right now would be 175/180 versus a 180 5 yr average, and trend at about 188. There are alot of folks in rougher shape than we are, we've been lucky, but I would still think the county could pull off an average crop. Remember average has 2011/12/13 dry and 10/14 flooding in it.

[wglassfo]

Hi jweiser1925

I clicked your link

What I got was an advertisement for a Gmail acct.

Was there some mistake or did I do something wrong

You can imagine my surprise. Did not know what to think you were trying to do, or what was I doing "here"

Did anybody else have the same experience??

Can somebody give me an idea what is happening???

[Mizzou_Tiger]

Good question

Short answer is, it's damaged

Long answer is, it's damaged but to what extent is highly dependent on how bad it was stunted or yellow before and what kind of weather we have going forward

If it was pale but not stunted in growth then damage maybe manageable. Especially if it had good weather going forward. Still expect to see a yield hit though.

If it was stunted and pale then damage will be much greater and if weather gets hot and dry I have seen those plants go to zero.



So it all depends

[ihtractortherap]

Time , when did you apply N .any after the flooding???

[wglassfo]

We had good soil conditions up until normal time to side dress NH3

Then the rains came and delayed us 2 weeks or a bit more in some fields

The NH3 was applied approx 5 weeks before tassel or early June [approx 2nd week for most]

!st tassels just starting now. No idea how long for all farms to tassel

Corn stayed pale yellow for approx 4 weeks after NH3 application. Usually see dark green in approx 10 days [I think]

All side dressing was done in wet soil, but soil would support machinery, with no ruts, except in drowned out spots

We had to work in wet soil as it just kept on rainng, almost every day or 2

This corn had 70 units of N broadcast before planting, plus 10 units in a 2x2 dry fert. at planting time [100 lbs of MAP and 70 lbs. of K-Mag]

We usually apply 200 units of total N plus or minus, according to farm potetial yield history

Some farms will receive a total of 220 units of N, some 180 units of N

We did the same thing this yr., adjusting amount of total N with the side dress operation

We did tissue tests of yellow and green corn

We did fnid some green or greener corn, for a comparison, in a side by side tissue test

Both yellow and green corn came back, saying there was adequate N in both samples, although the yellow did have a lower amount of N in the tissue [2.07 vs. 2.99] Soil test is in the high range for macro and micro elements, except magnesium, thus the K-Mag

I did not look at stage of growth, as side dressing was the thing that had to get done

The plants were a good 2' tall, with the nurse tank hitting the top of the plants

This is mostly 105-110 day corn, depending on time of planting. Some times we will plant some 113 day corn in April untill May 5th

I found a tiny cob tonite, in some average looking corn

Counted 18x35 kernels, but have no idea how many kernels will develop

This hybrid usually has 18 rows, some other hybrids will have 16. Number of rows does not equate to yield, unless you compare the same hybrid, YOY, as I have had 22 rows yield less than 16 rows. You need a history on these hybrids to know their potential

If I get 18x35 developed kernels, that is 180-200 and some 230, depending on kernel depth, test wt. for this hybrid

I also know I will get some 100 in the very wet places, but it is the major acres of corn ground that I have watched

The corn has finally turned a good green colour, about a week ago, and a week [approx] before tassel, although it is very uneven in some fields

I had yellow corn on top of a hill, that has tile and gravel under that corn

Tile is every 40' and in the gravel. That ground should have been the best drained soil we have.

Last yr. it was very green in colour

Reason for tile, on the hill, is to get the water in the tile, before it floods the low ground

Low ground is 30', but flooding water can not get into tile in the low ground fast enough, if you have a big rain, without tile else where to help

Rain falls on every part of the farm, not just the low ground, so we tile the whole farm

I think we should buy a plow and start to tile again as some of these tiles are getting 40 yrs old and getting plugged up with silt or sand. Buy the plow, tile the ground and re-sell for 1/2 price would be cheaper than contractor prices, plus you can't find a contractor after this yr. of rain. They are booked 2 yrs ahead, and won't do anything less than 50 acres

Not sure if I explained every thing, so a person can understand

I sort of ramble a bit

Forgot

Any place we used liquid 28%-that corn greened up a lot faster

We use liquid on the clay ground as sealing NH3 on clay can be a problem

We have a lot of different soil types, often in the same farm

[Husker-J]

If it turns nice dark green, and you have good weather, you probably won't take much of a yield hit.

However, if the soil is waterlogged until tasseling, or close to it, you might have problems with shallow roots.   Once the tassels start coming, the roots will not go any deeper.   I can remember a few years back, we had lots of rain until the shortest season corn started to tassel, and then it turned dry.   Took a MASSIVE yield hit, even in irrigated groind, because we just couldn't keep it watered enough with our equipment.   The roots were so shallow, that it started having moisture stress within 4-5 days of being irrigated.   The later season corn still had time to run deeper roots, and although we had to keep on top of watering, it fared much better.   Contrast that with a 'normal' year around here, where the shorter season corn is what you normally want to plant, if you are limited in how much water you can apply, or how fast you can get back to watering it.

Short answer:  You will probably have a yield hit of some amount, but the weather is going to still be the determinig factor.   However, I think you might be more succeptable to late season dryness than normal, due to shallow roots.