We’ve all heard of tar spot, southern rust, ear rot, the typical things that can hinder corn yield potential. This year has brought a new one. Dan ‘Corn’ Quinn, Purdue Extension corn specialist, says tassel wrap is just like it sounds- it’s the wrapping of the tassel.
“We often call it the flag leaf, the first leaf below the tassel, and those upper leaves were staying tightly wrapped around that tassel. We talk about pollination with corn is such a critical window, and also a really short window, so anything that throws off that synchrony or that timing of either the silks emerging or the tassel emerging can potentially impact pollination.”
So, what’s causing it? Quinn explains on the latest Purdue Crop Chat podcast from Hoosier Ag Today that more research needs to be done, but he has a theory.
“I went to some of these fields where we found it pretty significantly and pulled the weather data from those areas. In both instances where I found it, and they were actually showing up two separate different weeks, we had about a 35-degree swing from lower nighttime temps back up to about 95 degrees and it was often accompanied with rainfall.”
Trying to determine what the yield impact could be is a difficult task, but Quinn says, “You know, you can quote me on this and then it’ll be the exact opposite, but I do think it’s pretty minor in the state of Indiana.”
Hear more from Quinn in the Purdue Crop Chat wherever you listen to podcasts. Check out the video version of the podcast with Quinn and ‘Soybean Shaun’ Casteel below or on our Facebook and YouTube feeds.
