Corn Management Resources

This is the time of the year when contest-winning corn and soybean yields are announced. Some of the winners set records for the highest yield ever – yields that can be as much as 3 or 4 times the average U.S. yield. Yields that high bring to mind the silver bullet syndrome…

Over 50% of the years in the past decade have been exceptionally wet at/near planting. These conditions complicate early corn nitrogen (N) nutrition management.

Both corn and soybean finished strong across Kentucky despite lower total rainfall amounts across most of the state. The 2023 Kentucky corn crop is estimated by the Kentucky Office of the United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA-NASS) at 183 bushels per acre, up 17% from 2022, making the second largest corn crop on record.

Kentucky corn and soybean yields this year were better than many expected. They didn’t set records, but they were close.

October 31st marks the end of the harvest price discovery period for revenue protection crop insurance policies. The harvest price is used to calculate crop insurance indemnity payments and is the average December corn and November soybeans futures settlement prices during October.

Southern rust of corn, caused by the fungus Puccinia polysora, was confirmed in Kentucky on August 8, in Todd County. As of August 8, we have only confirmed the disease in Todd County, but with our current weather conducive for disease development, it will not be surprising to see additional confirmations across the state.

Either corn or soybean fully submerged more than 24 hours in these temperatures likely died. Plants in fields flooded for about 48 hours or more - even with plants exposed - likely will die. Generally, the area of plant death is larger than we initially estimate. If the water was over the ears for about 24 hours, then the ears are lost. They very likely have started to rot by now.  

The dry weather across the state is putting stress on the corn crop. The lack of water to corn before the V12 growth stage usually results in minimal yield losses if adequate water occurs at V12 and beyond. Most of the corn in Kentucky ranges from just planted to about V9 as of June 5, 2023.