News

Grain sprouting grain reported in Missouri

Heavy fall rains, hot temperatures, and high dew-points this fall have led to some corn crops sprouting and causing another set of problems for some farmers. Bill Wiebold, University of Missouri Extension crop specialist, tells Brownfield Ag News there have been reports of the sprouting in southeast Missouri’s Bootheel, “It’s an unusual occurrence. It does happen in years where we’ve got lots of rainfall which the Bootheel and other places in the state have had – (there’s been) abundant rain here, even after the plants have matured.”

Wiebold says some ears don’t tip down at maturity, and rain pools up in the ears.  He tells Brownfield that timely harvest and screening of the corn by growers can help, “We’ve had reports where corn was actually docked so large when it went to the elevator that it wasn’t even worthwhile selling. Those are very few and far between so I don’t want to necessarily say that it’s going to be widespread but it could happen.” Wiebold says the sprouted grain can be a fire hazard in the middle of a grain bin.

He says they haven’t seen any similar problems with soybeans yet but the same weather conditions can cause pod walls to split or break because of expansion and contraction, and the bean seed can germinate if it stays wet and warm enough. More rain is in the forecast for Missouri next week.