Corn Emergence Assessment in Crusted Soils

Very rainy and chilly temperatures does not bode well for some corn fields planted prior to the onset of storms pounding Indiana. Problems with germination, emergence, or survival of emerged seedlings are likely to occur in fields that received truly excessive rainfall and / or are poorly drained and susceptible to ponding or soil saturation for days on end. Significant surface soil crusting often develops in conventionally-tilled fields and restricts emergence of the corn plants. There can be some imbibitional chilling injury to seed in fields planted just ahead of the cold, wet spell. Other fields planted a bit earlier may exhibit corkscrewed elongation of mesocotyls and underground leafing out in response to cold temperature shock during emergence. More can be found here: http://www.kingcorn.org/news/articles...