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Hail damage recovery dependent on growth stage

Parts of northwest Iowa experienced hail damage June 11. Damage varied depending upon the location of the field, but there are many fields that were damaged severely, with corn plants being entirely stripped of leaves and some soybean fields being a total loss.

For those folks dealing with hail damage, the first step should be to communicate with a crop insurance agent, said Gentry Sorenson, Iowa State University Extension field agronomist based in Northwest Iowa.

Waiting 7-10 days after a hail event helps give the crops a chance to recover and makes it easier to assess the damage. However, depending upon the severity of the injury assessment, it may be possible sooner, Sorenson said in a news release.

Most corn was around the V5 to V7 growth stage. Corn’s growing point is below ground until the V6 growth stage.

Depending upon the stage of the corn, the growing point may have been below ground or right at ground level.

When evaluating the hail damage, consider the amount of defoliation as well as stalk bruising and breakage.

Soybeans are more vulnerable to hail damage at this point in the growing season given their growing point is above ground. If a plant is cut off below the cotyledons, that plant is no longer viable.

However, soybeans not only have a growing point from their apical meristem (uppermost node on the stem), they also have growing points at their axillary buds (located between the cotyledons and stem, unifoliate leaves and stem, and each trifoliate leaf and stem). If a soybean has only one or a partial cotyledon, it can be surprising what those plants will try and do.

It typically takes 4-7 days to see regrowth on soybeans after hail.

One of the big questions we often get with hail damage is whether to apply a fungicide because of hail.

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