Crop Damage

Figure 1. It's likely that a combination of factors this year led to weakened corn ear shanks, large ears, and stalk and ear rots which together may have contributed to increased ear dropping.
Figure 1. It's likely that a combination of factors this year likely led to weakened corn ear shanks, large ears, and stalk and ear rots which together may have contributed to increased ear dropping.

Potential Reasons for Weakened Ear Shanks and Ear Loss

November 3, 2017
While sustained high winds for several days in late October was likely the final catalyst, a number of factors may have led up to increased ear drop in corn. This article looks at potential factors throughout the season that may have eventually led to a challenging harvest.

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Table of wind gusts in Nebraska
Table of wind gusts in Nebraska

How windy was it? A look at Nebraska gusts Oct. 23-27

November 2, 2017
As evidenced by field after field of broken corn stalks and ears lying on the ground, the Nebraska plains were swept by winds of 30-50 mph, often over a sustained period, Oct. 23-27. Two tables show the peak gusts as well as how many hours in a given day two sites experienced high winds.

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Downed corn leading to harvest complications in 2012

Assessing and Harvesting Downed Corn

October 26, 2012

Also see Robert Klein's photo essay on an operation's effort to harvest downed corn and a related segment on YouTube from the November 2 Market Journal story with Rick Rasby.

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