| September 2007 - WATCH YOUR CORN STALKS... |
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CROP WARNING: WATCH YOUR CORN STALKS... Robert Moloney, CCA-ON, Agronomist, FS PARTNERS It’s been a tough year for many corn fields and that’s starting to show up. Start walking corn fields (especially non-Bt fields) and prioritize what you need to get combined ASAP. I’m seeing huge amounts of stalk breakage in some of our plots and fields that have had silage taken off the outside. The scariest part is that in a lot of cases the breakage is occurring below the cob. The breakage we are seeing now seems to be primarily due to corn borer damage (possibly with secondary damage by other bugs that entered the stalk) with some effect of stalk cannabilization by the plant to fill the cob. With the generally dry weather we’ve had the plants also haven’t been able to get the nutrients to make a strong stalk this year. As yet it’s been dry enough that there isn’t a lot of stalk rots showing up, but if we get an extended wet spell with all the entry points from corn borer and other damage, and a weak stalk to begin with, it could get really ugly. This isn’t going to be a year to leave corn in the field to dry. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact one of our Agronomy Specialists. |
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