Soil Moisture Rescues Corn Pollination

Analysts expect corn pollination to remain in good shape despite last week’s high temperatures recorded across the Midwest. Daytime high temperatures below 90 degrees Fahrenheit only cause pollination issues if there is inadequate soil moisture. Even with adequate soil moisture, a reduction in both volume of pollen shed and pollen viability can be expected if temperatures reach 95 degrees. Happily, temperatures last week only reached as high as 90 degrees in the key corn producing states of Missouri and Illinois. Missouri’s dry southwestern counties of Ozark, Taney, and Crawford experienced dangerously low soil moisture between June 29th and July 5th. In Ozark County, it fell as low as 0.02 percent by volume. Luckily, corn production is concentrated in the northern counties where soil moisture has been much higher over the same period. Farmers are also taking comfort in the knowledge that this week’s daytime temperatures are expected to fall back to 80 degrees Fahrenheit and are expected to decrease even further toward the end of the week. As the corn growing season continues across the US, Gro Intelligence will provide subscribers with the data and analytics to get ahead of corn production issues.