Keeping an eye on stalk quality

Keeping an eye on stalk quality

An Illinois-based agronomist says he has concerns about stalk quality in this year’s corn crop.

Nick Frederking is with AgriGold.  “Because we may have some restricted root growth in places that would limit nutrient and moisture uptake, or we have disease development early which would compromise some of the energy produced,” he says. 

He tells Brownfield it isn’t too early for farmers to monitor stalks ahead of harvest.  “I think there is a likelihood that if we continue to go through some of these dry conditions some of these corn plants, hybrid dependent, may start breaking down some of those energy reserves inside of that stalk a little earlier than we would normally see,” he says.