(Continued from Page El)
caused root growth to be in
hibited and this resulted in
sugars accumulating as red
pigments in the leaf tissue of
the small plants.
In some places, com plant
ed in mid-May experienced se
vere rain right after planting.
This caused the destruction of
soil structure in some fields
and also movement of herbi
cides within the field. This re
sulted in increased potential
for soil crusting and herbicide
stress on some crops.
The dry weather in July re
ally seemed to reduce root
growth of the later-planted
com and also reduced the
plants’ ability to recover from
any com rootworm damage.
In wet or normal years, we
often get some good root re
growth on rootworm-damaged
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NNSYLVANIA MASTER
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Between The Rows
Dr. Greg Roth
ite Agronomy Associate Professor
plants, but that did not occur
this year. This was com
pounded by the fact that in
some fields, root systems were
not well developed because of
the early cool, wet weather
and stress.
The effects of the dry
weather were exacerbated by
high temperatures. Data from
the Lancaster weather station
showed 31 days in July and
August had highs of 90 degree
or above. This compares with
a long-term average of 17.
High temperatures have mul
tiple negative effects on com
plants. High temperatures in
crease the evaporative de
mand on the crop, can reduce
pollen viability, and increase
the respiration of the crop.
Related to the heat stress, I
noticed much more poor polli
nation this year. I also ob
served fields where the interi-
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or parts of the field seemed
much worse than the perime
ter. I attribute this to addition
al heat stress in those areas
during the critical reproduc
tive stages of growth.
*> 1
Later in the season, I ob
served premature plant death
in the worst parts of drought
stunted fields. This only hap
pens in the worst conditions.
In some fields with decent ear
development, the ears
drooped over prematurely and
grain fill ended early. This
also is unusual. Normal ma
turing crops progressed
through silage and grain har
vesting stages two to three
weeks ahead of normal. This
was likely due to the 200-300
excess growing degree days
that we accumulated in most
areas of the state this year.
My observations also show
ed wide variations in field-to
fleld performance this year.
Factors that I think helped
this year were early planting,
long-term no-till, a history of
manure application, good
weed and insect control, and
crop rotation. Also, selecting
the right hybrid for the situa
tion seemed to be important
for me again this year. Several
farmers told me they thought
1
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Lancaster Farming,' Saturday, October 19, 2002, Corn Talk-E5
Poorly pollinated ears such as these were common in
corn fields in Pennsylvania as a result of high tempera
tures and drought stress during silking.
subsoiling helped to develop a
better root system and subse
quent growth under the
drought conditions. They
could be right.
What should we do for next
year? I don’t think we should
undertake any knee-jerk man
agement responses to the
drought this year. Instead, I
think a long-term plan to
build our soils, build some di
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versity into our cropping sys-
tems on marginal soils, and
continue to evaluate the ge-
netics that are out there for
the combination of high yield
and good drought stress are
good ideas. These are strate
gies that should pay dividends
in the future.
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