Drought Threatens Corn Crop

Jul. 23–The corn crop in many parts of Missouri and Illinois is in danger of severe damage linked to the spotty drought in the last several weeks.

Pat Guinan, the University of Missouri Extension climatologist, said “a good part of northeastern and central Missouri have been hit the hardest with less than one-half inch of rain” in some counties. He called the condition “a full-fledged drought.”

“We’ve had 0.08 (of an inch) of rain since June 14 in Columbia,” he said, adding that the last such dry spell for much of Missouri goes back to 1988.

In Illinois, which like Missouri produced record corn and soybean yields last year, those crops seem to be in less danger — at least so far.

Emerson Nafziger, University of Illinois Extension agronomist, said the condition of the two crops is hard to characterize statewide because of the spotty rains that have watered the state in recent weeks.

“We’re not into a disaster in either crop so far,” he said.

In Missouri, the corn crop is being hit hard because the plants are in the pollination stage. If they get too little rain, the plants cannot produce full ears of corn.

The soybean crop is starting to face similar dry-weather stress, Guinan said, but beans have yet to reach the critical stage that has hit much of the corn in the two states.

“Soybean leaves are starting to turn perpendicular toward the sun, which is a way the plant has to conserve moisture,” Guinan said.

Southeastern Missouri and northwestern Missouri have received adequate rain in the last several weeks, he said.

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