Area Storms Bring Hail Damage
Reports of hail associated with the strong storms that blew through much of the south central part of the state on Tuesday June 23rd reached our team of crops Extension Educators. In particular, a narrow band from Cosmos, MN in southern Meeker county to south of highway 212 in Glencoe was particularly hit. While some areas had pea sized hail that gathered in piles on the ground, some 1.5 to 2 inch sized hail was also reported. Field scouts found varying degrees of damage in both corn and soybeans from leaf shredding to complete removal of biomass down to the stalk. While instinct can push farmers toward action, often the best thing to do for mid to late season hail situations is to wait and assess regrowth.
Corn
When assessing corn utilize the Corn Grower’s Guide for Evaluating Crop Damage and Replant Options. Evaluations start with the growing point by splitting the stalk down the center. If the growing point has been damaged, bacteria will often invade the plant and the growing point becomes brown and soft. These plants will not recover, so count them dead. Also, count as dead plants that have restricted whorls preventing growth of new leaves. Barring these conditions, defoliation at the 10 leaf stage can be tolerable with 60% of leaf area destroyed causing 8% yield loss and 100% of leaf area destroyed causing 16% yield loss.
There is no option to replant corn at this calendar date - the cutoff has passed for planting grain corn on June 15th and planting silage corn on June 25th. Also, hold off on foliar fungicides for the sake of disease control. The corn diseases associated with hail damage are: common smut, Goss’s leaf blight and wilt, and possibly stalk rots - none of these diseases have proven effectively managed with foliar fungicide applications. Reference this Crop News article from Dean Malvick for more information on disease control in hailed corn. It can be tempting to take action immediately after a hail event, but return on investment must be carefully considered.
Soybean
As with corn, assessing soybean stands, damage, and replant decisions should be made with full consultation with the appropriate insurance personnel and a careful reading of the University of Minnesota Extension’s Soybean Hail Guide.
A careful estimation of the remaining plant stand will be crucial for determining next steps. A final call on the existing stand should not be made until soybean regrowth can be carefully evaluated after a week or so. In the meantime, planning for potential management decisions may commence.
Source : umn.edu