Factors that stress corn throughout the growing season can lead to stalk rots, which can lead to yield loss due to premature plant death or lodging. Understanding stalk rots risk factors and management practices are critical.

It is a common belief that high heat and humidity are ideal for corn growth. In reality, high temperatures, especially high nighttime temperatures, can reduce corn yield potential by increasing respiration.

Zipper ears, or ears with missing kernel rows, are a result of stress during pollination or grain fill. Ears affected by zippering have kernels that developed poorly or more slowly than other kernels or have ovules that aborted shortly after pollination. It’s important to understand how and why zipper ears occur and how to minimize their occurrence in the future.

Like a house with a poorly prepared foundation, corn plants with rootless corn syndrome (or floppy corn syndrome) between the V3 and V8 growth stage can topple at any moment, leading to stunted growth and even plant death. What causes this phenomenon and how can plants survive?

Spider mites can be a major corn pest in western regions of the United States. Mite infestations damage corn by removing photosynthates from the leaves, resulting in loss of leaf tissue, stalk breakage, kernel shrink and premature death. Damage from spider mites may lead to yield or tonnage loss and poor quality silage with low relative feed value.

Severe drought can cause unsafe levels of nitrates to form in corn plants, especially in the lower stalks. Although precautions during silage harvest can reduce nitrate levels, dairy producers should be cautious when feeding drought-stressed corn silage.

Summer drought noticeably limits corn silage production by reducing ear size and stalk growth. As few as four consecutive days of visible wilting during vegetative growth can reduce grain or forage yield by as much as 5 to 10 percent. Yield losses of 40 to 50 percent are possible if high temperatures and limited rainfall coincide with silking and reproductive stages.