The biggest question over the last few weeks is “Do we spray fungicide?” To be honest, until the last few rounds of rain I wasn’t sure either.
I was afraid if it didn’t rain, we were going to be way below crop insurance levels and fungicide may not have made sense on a lot of acres from an economic standpoint. Since the rain the crop has turned around, we are shooting tassels and starting to silk and the ears we are pulling have tremendous potential.
The ear shown comes from a field where the average height of the corn is only 6-7 feet tall. The ear is 18 rows around and 40 kernels long. The stand count is 32,000 population. If you multiply kernels around by kernels long times population and then divide by a conservative 90,000 kernels per bushel you come up with 256 bushels/acre. Do I think this field will average 256 bushels/acre? NO! However, I think the potential for way over 200 bushels/ acre is there and its way over crop insurance levels.
We also have a canopy in corn like we have never seen before. The corn is 3 feet shorter than normal with the same amount of leaves. These leaves are stacked very close together creating a groundcover that protects our valuable moisture. Our thirty-day forecast is unseasonably cool creating a long pollination period which in turn creates better grain fill on the ear. We also have rain in the forecast. I believe we are still on track for surprisingly good yields if we protect our crop.
Do we just go out and spray everything? NO! Let’s get out in the fields, evaluate what we have, protect our good crops, and do not treat the crops where there is not an economical benefit. These are the facts, and this is my honest opinion and I hope it helps your decision.
We are available anytime to look at your fields with you.
Chad Gripp