Hail Damage Assessment Time

Two hail adjustor's have been in my office today and I thought it would be time to give you some idea to the damage inflicted on crops this past Monday. The following link is an excellent place to visit. Bob Neilsen, Purdue Corn specialist has a gallery of pictures of hail damage to young corn at different growth stages. http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/news/timeless/HailDamageYoungCornGallery.html

Another excellent link is: Recovery From Hail Damage to Young Corn This site will give more detailed information regarding yield potential of the crop according to growth stage and severity of the damage. You might want to review this before the hail adjusters visit.

Timely Weed Control

Timely applications of herbicides will enhance the effectiveness of the specific chemistry of the product as well as the successful eradication of problem weeds. Soybean development is at or approaching the ideal time to control weeds. Most herbicides work best when applied to small actively growing weeds. So scout those crop fields now and determine is the time is right for your post emergent weed control strategy.

This link will give you great weed control information. http://agcrops.osu.edu/weeds/

Determining Corn Leaf Stages

Most university agronomists prefer the leaf collar method in determining the stage of development of a corn plant. It is important that growers understand how to identify the various corn growth stages as many products applied to corn especially fungicides have a direct relationship between timing of application of a fungicide and the stage of crop development. When determining the growth stage of corn using the leaf collar method, count only leaves with visible leaf collars (see photo). The off color green band at the base of the leaf near the stem of the plant is the leaf collar. For example if a plant has three visible leaf collars, then it is described as the V3 leaf stage or vegetative 3 stage.