News

Favorable conditions for crop development

A climatologist says crop development has been advancing ahead of average in many areas of the Corn Belt.

Eric Hunt with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln says temperatures have been favorable. “Very ideal conditions for pollination,” he said. “There’s a lot of corn that’s tasseling and it’s starting to silk. That’s in a lot of areas I-80 and south, so this has been good news for that.”

He says several key U.S. growing areas continue to receive timely rains. “A lot of precipitation across portions of Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri,” he said. “Also, pockets of Iowa and Wisconsin picked up a lot of moisture within the last week.”

Hunt says parts of the Delta region, including Arkansas, and portions of the Eastern Corn Belt have been abnormally dry the last 90 days.