Field Updates From Iowa, Illinois, and Nebraska

This week, one-fifth of the nation’s corn crop was rated excellent by the USDA, the highest recorded in that category since 2018. Yet tight tassel wrap is still raising concerns.

Here’s a quick look at the status of the corn crop in the nation’s top three corn-growing states, according to the USDA’s Crop Progress report, plus agronomist and farmer input.

Iowa

Although Iowa’s corn is some of the best in the country — USDA rated 87% of the crop good/excellent — tight tassel wrap is still concerning growers in some parts of the state.

“Tassel wrap and pollination issues continue to be a topic of conversation,” said Eric Wilson, a Wyffels agronomist supporting southern and northeast Iowa. He said in the southeast part of the state specifically, most pollination issues are associated with April 10–15 planting dates.

Wilson shared that although certain hybrids from a particular company are showing the worst symptoms so far, “other genetics planted in this window also reveal that it was a very tough time to pollinate, in general, with a few more missing kernels compared to what we have seen in previous years.”

The issue certainly isn’t universal. Elliot Henderson, an Iowa farmer and Iowa Corn Growers Association director said in a recent podcast that he hasn’t seen or heard about the issue in northeast Iowa.

Western Iowa farmer Kelly Garrett said he’s been looking for tight tassel wrap at his Crawford County farm but hasn’t seen any yet. It’s hard for Garett to find the words to describe just how well his corn is faring: “I don’t know how else to say it. The corn crop is the best I’ve seen.”

Crop Progress

USDA said 84% of Iowa’s corn had reached the silking state, one point ahead of the five-year average, while 34% had reached the dough state, notably ahead of the 26% five-year average.

Illinois

In USDA’s latest report, 71% of Illinois corn was rated good/excellent. Tight tassel wrap is affecting the crop’s pollination in different geographic regions of the state.

Wyffels agronomist Ryan Gentle, who described widespread impacts in Successful Farming’s reporting last week, said he’s still finding lots of fields with issues in his western Illinois territory.

The same goes for further south in the state. “Tight tassel wrap is still being found throughout southern Illinois, but for the most part not as severe as in other parts of the corn belt,” said Syngenta agronomist Phil Krieg.

“I recommend that growers pay close attention to this during plot days and seed discussions,” Krieg advised.

Crop Progress

USDA reported on Monday that 92% of the crop in Illinois had reached the silking state, and 35% had reached the dough stage. Progress in both cases was ahead of respective five-year averages by several points.

Nebraska

USDA rated 77% of Nebraska’s corn crop good/excellent. The Cornhusker State’s crop isn’t facing the same level of tassel wrap issues as other top states, according to Syngenta’s Travis Gustafson. 

“Nebraska has seen some tassel wrap but not as widespread as other parts of the country,” the agronomist said. “Many of our fields have ‘shy’ tassels, where the tassels are fully emerged from the flag leaf but they don’t pop up and dominate the visual appearance of the field.”

“This is not concerning, as the tassels are still functioning as they should,” Gustafson said.

Crop Progress

Corn silking in Nebraska is behind schedule — USDA reported progress at 76% as of July 27, which is 9 points behind the five-year average. Twenty percent of the crop had reached the dough stage. That’s also behind the five-year average, but only by 3 points.