June 8, 2011

Three new extension circulars on evaluating hail damage to corn, grain sorghum, and soybeans are available on the web. Each resource provides key information for determining crop stage and assessing hail damage specific to that crop stage. In turn, this information can be used to estimate potential yield loss and make management decisions for that field. Yield loss data in these publications is based on information provided by the National Crop Insurance Service.

• EC126, Evaluating Hail Damage to Corn
  Assessment of plant stand reduction, direct damage, and leaf defoliation and guide to estimate yield loss; also describes remedial actions
   
• EC129, Evaluating Hail Damage to Grain Sorghum
  Assessment of hail damage and guide to estimating yield loss from stand loss or defoliation.
   
• EC128, Evaluating Hail Damage to Soybeans
  Assessment of yield loss due to stand reduction, leaf defoliation, stem damage, and pod damage; includes remedial actions available.

These extension circulars expand on the previous NebGuides and include information and photos for determining the growth stage for each crop — a key element to accurately evaluating potential yield loss from hail damage.

Will we see decreased hail incidents this year since we have new publications on evaluating hail damage? That seems to have occurred since we started doing research on drought tolerant corn. Since we started our work we’ve seen some of the best rainfall years, but I wouldn’t count on that extending to Nebraska hail damage.

Robert Klein
Extension Western Nebraska Crops Specialist