Extension Crop Reports and Field Visits
Figure 1. Most plants in this field near Craig exhibited tied leaves. The first and second leaves of the plant in the foreground were completely killed by the frost; the third and fourth leaves remain twisted together. These plants should recover, assuming weather conducive for growth.
Frosted Corn Assessment at 2 Sites
Burt County – near Craig
Figure 2. (Left) Two plants in tilled end rows. This area was near a waterway and thus lower in elevation, plus the field had been tilled. Both of these factors would normally increase frost damage. (See Figure 3 left plant and Figure 4 right plant.)
Figure 3 (left). The leftmost plant in Figure 2 — the growing point is dead — a very rare (<1%) situation in the fields we visited. Figure 4 (right). The rightmost plant in Figure 2 – the growing point is alive and the plant will survive. Nearly all the plants in the fields visited will survive.
Roger Elmore, Extension Cropping Systems Agronomist, with John Wilson, Extension Educator in Burt County
May 23, 2014
Corn plants in a few fields were "burnt" to the ground as a result of freezing temperatures May 14-15 when corn was V1 or V2. Corn was at V3 on May 23. The fields were no-till planted into soybean stubble around April 20. Nearly all plants (>99%) in the two fields we looked at recovered although most of the recovered plants still had their leaves tied or wrapped together (Figure 1). I'd expect them to grow out of that soon if not already (see CropWatch article). (Also see Figures 2-4.)
Merrick County – North of Central City
May 28, 2014
Corn in a few fields in northern Merrick County (Figure 5) was "burnt" to the ground as a result of freezing temperatures May 17 when corn was V1 - V2. Corn was at V4 on May 28. The field I checked was no-tilled into soybean stubble on April 19. Nearly all plants (>99%) had recovered. Plant to plant variability in growth was the norm which will likely increase variability in seasonal growth, development, and yield (Figure 6). It appeared that a good share of the recovered plants earlier had their leaves tied or wrapped together but most had already grown out of it and were fully unfurled (Figure 7).
Summary
Weather conditions following the mid-May frosts were favorable to corn growth and undoubtedly facilitated excellent recovery. Stand reductions were minimal. I intend to follow the variability in plant-to-plant damage and recovery at both of these locations during the growing season.
Figure 5. (left) Overview of Merrick County field showing nearly complete recovery from May 17 frost.
Figure 6. (right) Three plants — in foreground — at Merrick County site showing variation in impact and recovery from frost. The middle plant was affected minimally.
Figure 7. Two plants at the Merrick County site show evidence of earlier twisted leaves. In the case of the rightmost plant, the second leaf previously was twisted together with the third leaf for a period of time.
Troy Ingram, Extension Educator in Merrick County: Crops are progressing nicely in Merrick County. We did not experience any of the Mother's Day storms that some of the southern counties did. We did, however, have a few of the early planted corn fields that were hit with frost. I would say that accounted for about 10%-15% of our corn. It is coming out of it nicely. Some producers lost some stand from it though. I have not seen any replant in the county.
The one wheat field that I know of is now starting to flower. The corn is V1 – V3, the soybeans are VE – V2. First cutting alfalfa is also being cut. I have not seen or been told of any emergence problems.
Noel Muess, Extension Educator in Furnas County: Disease doesn't appear to be much of a problem in our wheat. Our main concern is drought. Our wheat variety plot has received about 11.9 inches of moisture since August 1, 2013 and that's after two years of severe drought. Crop adjusters have already declared some fields a total loss. "Continuous crop" wheat has little chance of producing any yield. We had about 1.5 inches of rain over the weekend which gives some hope that we may at least have part of a crop.
The plot tour is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. (includes breakfast) Tuesday, June 17 at the Community Center in Arapahoe. (See schedule of Nebraska wheat tours in May 30 CropWatch.)
Figure 8. This is one of several on-farm research trials underway in Merrick County. This study is focusing on starter fertilizer in soybean. This field, now at V1, was strip-tilled at 145,000 plants/ac.
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