News

Minnesota corn crop catching up

Corn has begun tasseling in south-central Minnesota.

Dave Nicolai with the University of Minnesota says the first reports of tassels are coming from the Mankato area.

“We (also) have some corn on the St. Paul campus that was planted April 26th (that) is well into the tasseling stage (as well). But by and large, most corn is not (tasseling) yet, but we’re getting very close.”

The latest crop report from USDA shows corn development statewide remains more than a week behind normal.

Nicolai tells Brownfield recent heat is helping.

“We’re probably up to that area, 14 to 16 leaf corn, so there’s that one leaf left to go in terms of tassel development.”

The condition rating of corn decreased slightly on the week to 58 percent good to excellent.

Soybean blooming, at 16 percent, is 11 days behind the five-year average.

Sixty percent of Minnesota soybeans are rated good to excellent.