“Potential corn-yield losses of 40 to 50 bushels per acre are showing up in large areas with heavy rainfall,” a University of Missouri soil scientist said.
Some areas around Kahoka, Mo., and Keokuk, Iowa, have recorded more than two feet of rainfall. In northern Missouri, the heavy-rain area extends from Bethany, Mo., to the Mississippi River.
The greatest loss potential is in far northeast Missouri, but close behind might be river-bottom fields in St. Charles County, Scharf said.
Extensive areas of southeast Missouri have had high rainfall. “Most producers there apply nitrogen as a side dressing to the corn rows. That is less vulnerable to loss as nitrogen is applied after heaviest rains.”
Deep soil tests can determine the nitrogen in the soil. But that takes time, trouble and expense. If the corn appears yellow from nitrogen stress, it can use some added nitrogen.
Reviewed 2013-01-24