A good chunk of corn is starting to prematurely. mature.
Many fields have cobs that are pointing towards the ground without being black layered which is unusual. When corn cobs kernels black layer, it means that the kernel has pulled all it can from the cob, and has severed the connection. This year, without seeing cobs black layer, we can assume that those cobs may not have sucked enough nutrients out of the stalk to sever the connection before the stalk died. The corn plant seems to have run out of juice.
This premature change is new territory for us, but it may lead to a lower test weight, and/or lodging issues in the crop.
Due to these concerns, we want to encourage growers to harvest corn at higher than normal moistures such as 25%. This will help to maximize test weights, while minimizing the risk of lodging in the field.
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