Lack of rain hurts corn development

The corn field owned by Alesia Martin west of Kenton is much more than knee high this Fourth of July. The field was planted by Darryl Turner (back) on April 23 in the field he rents from Martin. With Turner are Martin’s children, A.J. and Stephanie Sorgen.

Corn should be at least knee-high at this time of the season and many fields in Hardin County will meet that standard and more, said OSU Extension Office Educator Gene McCluer, but other fields are falling far short of the goal.
“You see all kinds of crops this year,” said McCluer. “As I drive around the county I see some very good corn and some very bad corn.”
Some fields were damaged by the high winds in a storm which passed through Friday, but McCluer said those corn stalks appear to be recovering.
“I’m more concerned with the lack of rain,” he said. “The corn is at a development stage and it’s not growing much.”
Many of the plants are short and beginning to tassel, he noted.
“That could be a problem,” said McCluer. “It could affect pollination.”
Darryl Turner farms land just west of Kenton and said while his corn is more than six feet tall, the corn in the area which is shorter may have higher yields. The difference, said Turner, could be in the next few weeks. His taller corn needs rain as soon as possible.
“This is a critical time right now,” said Turner.
McCluer said the corn crop could recover from the lack of moisture, but much of the damage is already done.
“I don’t have a good feeling about the corn crop this year in general,” he said.

By DAN ROBINSON
Times staff writer

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Posted by Kenton Times on July 3, 2012. Filed under Featured,Local News,Recent Pictures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry