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Farmer says this week’s extreme heat will hurt, not help crops

A severe heat wave will expand into the Great Plains and Corn Belt this week and a farmer says that may not be good news for crops.

Randy Uhrmacher grows corn and soybeans in South-Central Nebraska in an area that is in extreme and exceptional drought according to the latest US Drought Monitor. “When you don’t have subsoil moisture and miss a few rains and you turn the heat on, that’s very detrimental to the crop.  This week is going to take a lot of that down.  This is a make or break week. Without those rains, those crops won’t make it through very well at all.

He tells Brownfield while heat helps corn reproduction, this week it could be too hot with highs forecasted over 100 degrees. “I think anything over 85 degrees really doesn’t benefit you catching up on heat units.”

Uhrmacher says his corn is ahead of schedule.

The National Weather Service is forecasting temperatures to reach  the 100s in Kansas, upper 90s and low 100s in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and upper 90s in Indiana Tuesday-Thursday.