When I cross my street to the east and walk through my neighbors yard I see the corn field. It looks like it is doing well. It really isn't. It was planted early and did very well until it stopped raining and we reached over 100 degree temperatures for ten or eleven straight days.
The corn is short and yet we have received enough small rains that it isn't dead. It looks like it is good condition. It isn't.
There should be two big ears on the stalk. The one actually is big but not the normal size. The other one is so small. If there are kernels on it, the size is one fourth the normal ear size.
If every stalk has one small ear and another medium size ear I figure that the crop will be at least forty percent less or even fifty percent.
This is the visual clincher for the bad news. The corn is not filled out all the way to the top with kernels and there are spaces in the rows. The drought that we had was compared to the 1936 drought and it may seem bad but he difference that makes it not 1936 is the small rains that we have received. It is keeping the foliage somewhat green even though the ears are so underdeveloped. Crop wise they will know by the harvest if it is just as bad or not.
Of course the corn was planted early so the harvest is going to be earlier. I am seeing corn that is firing in some fields, which means it is stopping its growth and getting ready to shrivel up leaving dried leaves and the corn ear hanging down ready for harvest.
It is my last day of work as a janitor today. It has been an interesting experience and an exhausting one. We spent the past two days finishing up the hallway floors and getting things looking great for the start of the school year. I am not sure when I will return as a substitute teacher. At this time I know that I will have Wednesday off from any work.
Thanks for stopping by my post today.
6 comments:
This is definitely not good for the farmers or the consumers- the drought is really horrible in my area of Arkansas, too.
Same here with the corn,Bad for all of us .
It has been a tough year.
That will be hard on your Iowa farmers..so sad.
Enjoy your day off Larry..do something fun just for you! :)
Larry, sadly a lot of the cornfields around our area look like this, perhaps not as far gone as in many other states like yours. we have had some rain and while even more than many other areas, still not enough to save crops.
So sad about the corn crop.
I know you have worked very hard this summer with some extreme heat. Hope you enjoyed your day off.
Post a Comment