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What will Illinois’ corn yield be?
With all the drought stress what will the corn yield be? University of Illinois Crop Sciences Professor Emerson Nafziger says the crop ratings continue to decline but at least can’t get much lower. As of Sunday, 66 percent of the Illinois corn crop was rated poor or very poor, only 7 percent good and none was excellent.
Harvest has begun in southern Illinois because of early plant death and drying. Typically, yield potential estimates start with kernel numbers but there’s so much variation in stressed fields Nafziger says it is nearly impossible to estimate ear numbers.
Some areas, though, might surprise everyone – producing grain even under stress. Checking green leaf area, he says, is one estimating tool and the only way to even come close is to get out in the field and assess it. He says reports from central Illinois indicate good and poor fields are often close together so the crop might be better than ratings indicate – especially if there has been rain.
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