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Corn Watch: Late-planted corn emerges quickly. Here’s what to expect next.

Tom J Bechman 1, Editor, Indiana Prairie Farmer

June 18, 2019

3 Min Read
Dave Nanda checking young cornfield
GROWTH PREDICTIONS: Dave Nanda checks corn at the three- to four-leaf stage. If temperatures are normal in June, the Corn Watch ’19 field should have reached this stage by now.

The big day finally arrived! The operators planting the Corn Watch ’19 field were able to plant into reasonably good soil conditions in minimum tillage on May 28. These farmers planted all their corn within the next week.

The corn was up and visible nine days after planting. Even though there were a couple of cooler days with air temperature highs only in the upper 70s during that stretch, quick emergence is a hallmark of later-planted corn. Soil temperatures are typically warmer, Dave Nanda notes.

Nanda, director of genetics for Seed Genetics-Direct, Jeffersonville, Ohio, will make regular observations in the Corn Watch ’19 field throughout the season. Seed Genetics-Direct is the sponsor of Corn Watch ’19.

One thing Nanda will be watching is how quickly corn develops. He notes that corn planted in very late May, like this field, should mature somewhat more rapidly than if the same hybrids had been planted four weeks earlier, or around May 1.

Field background

Two hybrids were planted with a 24-row planter, creating blocks of 24 rows of each hybrid across the field. The operators stuck with a 112-day and a 113-day hybrid in this field.

Their normal strategy is to apply anhydrous ammonia in the spring before planting. Anhydrous ammonia was injected at the rate of 180 pounds of actual nitrogen per acre on this field several weeks before planting, and before it was obvious there would be substantial planting delays.

Related:Check seeding depth, root health by digging plants

This field was also spread with 100 pounds per acre of ammonium sulfate, providing nitrogen and sulfur, although there’s no guarantee how much of the nitrogen applied in that form will still be available to plants after the wet weather.

Plant development

According to the Purdue University Corn and Soybean Field Guide, in a normal year it takes about 82 growing degree days to produce the next leaf stage, beginning with emergence through the 10-leaf stage. Planting to emergence typically requires 115 GDDs. Growing degree days are a measure of the amount of energy accumulated for growth based on maximum and minimum temperatures per day.

Here’s an example based on the guide: If corn in the Corn Watch ’19 field emerged June 5, and 600 GDDs accumulate between June 5 and July 4, you could expect this crop to reach the seven-leaf stage by July 4. That’s 600 divided by 82, or 7.3 leaves produced. The estimated 600 GDDs accumulating between June 5 and July 4 are based on a 40-year average for central Indiana, from 1971 through 2010.

From V10 to the final leaf, agronomists have determined that corn plants typically require 50 GDDs to produce a leaf in a normal year. Between July 4 and July 25, another 500 GDDs accumulate on average in central Indiana. If these plants produce 18 leaves total, they would need 400 of that 500, and should produce final leaves somewhere around July 20.

Speed up maturity

As noted earlier, based on work by Purdue’s Bob Nielsen and Ohio State University’s Peter Thomison, since this is a late-planted year, not a normal year, it should take fewer GDDs for corn to reach maturity, Nanda says. The formula the agronomists developed says on average it takes 1.6 GDDs fewer per day of delayed planting after May 1 from planting to silking.

With a 27-day delay (May 1 to May 28), that’s nearly 44 fewer GDDs required during that period. Don’t be surprised, assuming average GDD accumulation, if this field reaches final leaf stage and silking before July 20. It all depends on Mother Nature.

The real increase in maturity comes after silking. From planting to black layer, the same hybrid planted May 28 vs. May 1 should be able to reach black layer requiring 200 fewer GDDs.

Stay tuned to see if these numbers hold true this year.

About the Author(s)

Tom J Bechman 1

Editor, Indiana Prairie Farmer

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