By Jeff Coulter, Extension Corn Specialist
Much of the corn in Minnesota has finished pollinating and kernels are in the blister to milk stage. Soil moisture levels and air temperatures for much of the corn in Minnesota were favorable during pollination and continue to remain favorable, but some regions are becoming dry.
Stress due to dry and hot conditions between now and the end of the milk stage can reduce grain yield by reducing the number of kernels per plant, but stress during the milk stage has less of an impact on yield than stress during pollination. As kernels continue to develop, the potential for reduction in grain yield due to stress is reduced.
To evaluate, in real time, the impact of this season’s weather on corn yield potential and its spatial variability across the Corn Belt, simulations of 2015 yield potential were updated on July 29 by University of Nebraska researchers as part of a multi-state project.