Chad Rushing, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator at Purdue Extension, says the corn crops had plenty of moisture during pollination, but the crops are now suffering from the lack of moisture.
“Corn especially is exhibiting signs of drought stress and that has affected kernel development and resulted in some fields aborting kernels which will lead to a reduced yield impact,” stated Rushing.
While Rushing feels this isn’t a big concern at this time, the stress has scaled back early predictions of record yields.
“The conditions were right for above average yields, but due to the dry spell during stages where the kernels develop there have been some fields that have shown signs of yield reduction. It’s not significant.”
Rushing predicts average yields for corn again this year.
Soybeans are doing well, but there are some fields showing drought stress. Rushing predicts a “fairly good” yield for soybeans come harvest time.
