Spotty showers can't lift area out of dry spell

• Corn field

julie buntjer/daily globe Corn plants, some of which have tasseled, stand tall in a field south of Worthington following a much-needed rain shower Thursday morning.

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WORTHINGTON — Thursday morning’s rain showers brought welcome relief to the area’s corn and soybean crops, but not everyone was treated fairly.

Reports ranged from just three-tenths of an inch northwest of Bigelow to seven-tenths north of Worthington and 2.9 inches in Jackson.

The rain couldn’t have come at a more critical time in the growing season for the region’s corn crops, which are tasseling and moving into the reproductive stage.

Liz Stahl, crops specialist at the University of Minnesota Extension Regional Center in Worthington, said some corn fields had been showing signs of moisture stress and the leaves on corn plants had been curling in areas.

“We’ve had a lack of moisture for quite some time and (with the heat), that’s not been a great combination,” she said. “The places that did get moisture, it’s very welcome at this time.”

Stahl said once the corn starts to tassel, the silk begins to emerge from the ear. The silk, which is made up of 85 percent moisture, can be slow in emerging if it’s really dry. It takes successful pollination for kernels to begin forming.

“Going into that reproductive stage is a very high water usage for the plant,” she explained. “Going into pollination, we just don’t want to have that stress. It can have quite a bit of impact on yields.”

In essence, rain showers in July are hoped to be more frequent than they were in June. Stahl said Worthington registered just six-tenths of an inch of rain the entire month of June, which fell more than four inches below the long-term average for the month. The lack of rain has brought the area back into the “abnormally dry” category.

Meanwhile, much of the Corn Belt is considered to be in a drought — and in some cases, a rather severe drought.

Farmers in southwest Minnesota went into the 2012 crop season in a drought, but rains in May helped turn that around with rainfall amounts at 5.3 inches above normal.

While the region’s corn crop is just moving into the critical stage for moisture, any moisture at this time for soybeans is an added benefit. Soybeans are in or entering the flowering stage, and won’t reach their critical needs for water until next month.

High temperatures over the past two weeks may have caused the loss of flowers on some soybean plants, but Stahl said the plants can adapt to a lot of things.

“Most of the (soybean) fields have looked pretty good,” Stahl said. “We’ve had, as with corn, a wide range of planting dates.

“The corn would be my biggest concern right now with these conditions,” she said. “August is the time to worry about beans. Things can really change if we get some timely rains.”

The one bright side, if there is one, to the heat and humidity that has plagued the region recently, is that the aphid population has remained rather low.

“These high temperatures are not great for them either,” Stahl said.

Daily Globe Reporter Julie Buntjer may be reached at 376-7330.

Tags: news, weather, farm, agriculture, worthington, jackson