Farm Horizons
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Oct. 10, 2016
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Page 8
Rain makes grain?
Usually, when corn growers in MinneNumerous hail storms passed through
sota receive above-normal rainfall for the
the area, taking a toll on the crop. One
Dave Schwartz Hutchinson grower told me his crop sufmonths of July and August, grain yields
Certified crop advisor
run above normal. This period is typically
fered from four hail storms during this
Gold Country Seed
hot and dry, so above-normal moisture
summer.
during this period reduces stress on corn
In addition to gully-washing rains, frost
and soybeans, resulting in above-average
in May, and hail storms, strong winds acyields.
companying these storms in July caused
A University of Minnesota weather site used to check corn plants to green snap.
weather in the area found that this year Wright County avGreen snap occurs when corn plants become more briteraged 7.7 inches of rainfall in July (3.8 is normal), and tle during an active growth stage between waist-high corn
7.2 inches of rainfall in August (4.3 is normal). I noticed through tassel.
rainfall at one location as high as 11.2 inches for the month
In many fields, I have seen 3 percent to 10 percent of the
of July.
plants broken off from green snap.
We had a series of weather events this growing season
There is nearly a direct relationship with plant reduction
that took a toll on the crop.
and yield loss with green snap, so fields that lost 10 percent
The frost of May 15 froze corn plants that had already of the plants will have approximately 10 percent less yield.
emerged. Plants eventually came back, but the frost set
All of these weather-related events have taken a toll on
some plants back more than others. This unevenness will this year’s crop. A few growers were just plain unlucky and
take a few bushels off the top, especially in the fields that were hit by all of these weather events. Their crops will
were most advanced at the time of the frost.
suffer the most. On the other hand, some growers escaped
I am a strong believer in early planting dates, but this these storms and are looking at a great crop. On average
year it appears fields planted April 15 will not yield as well though, yields will be down from the record-setting crop
as those planted the last week of April.
of 2015. n