U.S. corn enters silking stage

Jun 29, 2022

About 4 percent of the crop is in this stage, the USDA reports

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

The U.S. corn crop has entered the next development stage.

About 4 percent of the national crop is silking, the USDA reports in its June 28 Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin. This is on par with last year’s progress.

With projections for U.S. corn acres sitting around 89.5 million acres in 2022, this means about 3,580,000 acres of corn are silking.

On a state level, corn in Texas is the furthest along.

About 70 percent of the state’s corn acres are silking, the USDA’s report says. This is up from 66 percent at this time last year.

Corn in North Carolina (39 percent), Tennessee (24 percent) and Kentucky (10 percent) are the other states with notable progress.

The U.S. soybean crop has also entered its next stage.

Around 7 percent of national soybean acres are blooming, the USDA’s report says. That number is down from 13 percent last year.

With soybean planting projections sitting at around 91 million acres, this means about 6,370,000 acres of soybeans are blooming.

Soybeans in Louisiana lead the way nationally.

About 82 percent of soybeans in that state are blooming, the USDA reported. That’s up from 65 percent last year around this time.

Approximately 66 percent of soybeans in Mississippi have bloomed, as have about 51 percent of the soybean crop in Arkansas.

U.S. producers interested in how corn and soybean crops are coming along in the Midwest can follow the 2022 U.S. Corn Belt Crop Tour.

The tour begins June 30 in Ohio and will travel through 12 different states, speaking with farmers and experts along the way.

Follow the tour on social media @FarmsMarketing or use the hashtag #cornbelt22.

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.