WILL CORN MAKE IT TO MATURITY?

On August 19th and 20th, Lincoln and Marathon County Agricultural Development Agent, Tom Cadwallader, surveyed the corn crop in the two counties in order to determine if it could possibly reach maturity before the first normal killing frost date around the September 20th. Cadwallader randomly selected 12 different corn fields, pulled a half dozen corn samples and determined their stage of maturity. The stages of maturity revealed what many farmers have probably suspected, the cool temperatures this summer and the lack of moisture in many parts of the two counties have definitely delayed corn development. Cadwallader found that 8% of the corn was still in the R1- Silk, stage; 59% was still within the R2 – Blister stage; and 33% had advanced to the R3 – Milk stage. Only one cob, from a field near the Langlade County line had gotten close to the R4 – Dough stage. About 40% were displaying drought stress with a majority of those being in the Eastern half of Marathon County.

Looking at Table 1, it is fairly evident that a majority of the corn in the two counties will need lots of favorable weather to reach maturity before the first killing frost on or around September 20th. According to Extension Corn Specialist Joe Lauer, “If corn reaches the R5 – Dent stage by Labor Day, it should make it by frost time.” If you’d like more information on handling drought stressed corn you can either call the Tom Cadwallader at 715-536-0304 (Merrill Office) or 715-261-1240 (Wausau Office).

TABLE 1: Corn Kernel Growth Stage and Time to Maturity

RESOURCES

• Drought Stress Reduces Corn Silage Yield More Than Quality (2 pages, 60 KB)
• How Do You Manage A Corn Crop After Stress? (11 pages, 112 KB)
• Pricing Drought Stressed Corn Silage (4 pages, 51 KB)
• Guidelines for Handling Corn Damaged by Frost Prior to Grain Maturity (3 pages, 41 KB)

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