By Jeff Coulter, Extension Corn Specialist
Much of the corn in Minnesota is in the milk stage. Soil moisture levels and air temperatures for much of the corn in Minnesota have been favorable since pollination, but some regions have become dry.
Stress due to dry conditions through the end of the milk stage can reduce grain yield by reducing the number of kernels per plant. After the milk stage, kernel number per plant is set and kernels become doughy. Stress occurring between the dough stage and maturity reduces grain yield by reducing kernel weight.
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 August 12 by University of Nebraska researchers. Results are available at https://cropwatch.unl.edu/hybrid-maize-aug-14-yield-forecasts.
Updated yield forecasts, estimates for the dates of maturity, and predicted probabilities of an early killing freeze will be available in late August.