Corn-growing Weather

Corn is thriving in the heat.

The corn in this Christian County (KY)  field was planted before the flood in early May. Somewhere in the field, there are probably a few places where the corn plants are sparse, because the seeds (or the seedlings) were washed out by heavy rain or because the young plants stood too long in water and died.

Some of the corn around the county is much younger than the corn in this photo. Farmers had to wait a while for the fields to dry after all that rain. Fortunately, we have a long growing season in Kentucky, and the corn still has plenty of time to mature before frost. The main concerns about late corn are insects and the dry weather we often get in mid-to-late summer.

Corn likes the heat, as long as it has adequate moisture in the soil. We've had a couple of heavy rains in this part of Christian County just this week, so the corn around here should be growing like crazy.

My husband says some fields of corn are tasseling near Pembroke. Those plants won't be growing any taller. They'll be putting all their remaining energy into growing their ears. The amount of time that corn needs to reach the tasseling stage is determined by its variety. Some corn varieties are short-season, some are long-season, and some are between the two extremes.

Ag Web reports that across the nation,

Conditions for both corn and soybeans are in very good shape so far this year and ahead of last year. Corn is listed at 77% good to excellent, compared to 76% last week. (Source)

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Read more about corn on the Purdue University website.
Read some farmer-talk about the state of the nation's crops.