Although the large acreage reported at the end of June shocked
the corn market, it almost goes without saying that good yields
are still important to end up with a large crop, says Emerson
Nafziger, University of Illinois Extension agronomist. "While
guessing at crop prospects before we see many tassels is always
a little dangerous, we now have some idea about the
physiological state of the crop as it enters the most critical
yield-determining part of the season," Nafziger says. The latest
report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)
indicates that 8% of the Illinois corn crop was silking as of
July 3, behind the 21% average of the past five years, but set
to increase substantially over the next week as the crop planted
in early May begins to silk. "In our planting date study at
Urbana, a 109-day RM hybrid planted on March 31 silked on July
3, and the 113-day hybrid on July 5," he says. "That's after
about 1,400 growing degree days for the early one, and 1,450 for
the later one. The May 5 p