Corn in the backyard, 2015 -- weeks 7 & 8

June 21

Although the stalks added about 21 inches of growth in the seventh week to reach 61 inches tall, the crop is beginning to show signs of stress in some areas.  Persistent rain over the last two weeks has resulted in standing water or very wet soil in the lowest spots of most of the fields in our area.  You may have noticed the stalks just right of center in the top image are lagging the other stalks, and have yellow leaves at their base.  That part of Farmer Wagenbach's field appears to be affected more than the rest, but continues to grow.

Even with the rain, the weather was warm enough to record 178 growing degree days versus a historical norm of 152 for the week.  There is no sign yet of tassels or ears, but we'll continue to monitor that closely.

June 28

The stalks added another 21 inches of height in the eighth week, reaching 82 inches.  Growing degree days totaled 174 which was slightly higher than the historical norm of 163 for the week.  More rain over the week gave the soil little chance to dry out, which affected the growth of some of the stalks.  Since there aren't any tassels or ears in the field yet, it's still too early to tell if yield will be affected in the wet portions of the field.