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Missing kernels will hurt yield

An agronomist says Midwest corn yields might be affected by fewer kernels on ears.  Ed Corrigan with Brandt says, in some cases, there’s less corn because of what he refers to as zippered ears.

“Down the whole side of the ear the kernels have aborted,” Corrigan told Brownfield at the Illinois State Fair Tuesday, “maybe the tip back at the very tip of the ear is missing.”

Corrigan tells Brownfield aborted kernels are the result of heat late in pollination.

“We got into that third of July and we hit the heat, and those 100 degree days; 70, 75, 80 degree night time temperatures drained the crop of its ability to produce enough sugar, and so the last fertilized kernels aborted,” he said.

Corrigan is based in Springfield, Illinois.

AUDIO: Ed Corrigan