As he works with northeast Arkansas growers and their waterlogged crops, Roger Gipson is being asked many questions about lost yield potential. The Pioneer agronomist says there are many variables but some general rules.

So will waterlogged corn recover and yield normally?

“I don’t know about normal yields, but water-damaged corn will respond well to dry weather and fertilizer. Cultivation will also help aerate the soil. Early-season stresses can impact yields a couple of ways. If you get to V5 with an even, healthy, full population stand, yield loss is minimal — if any at all — assuming development isn’t delayed significantly.”

Where the yield loss comes in is if:

• Population is lost.

• Stand is uneven (some plants delayed by more than two leaf stages).

• Development is delayed. “For the South, delayed growth can impact yield not due to loss of GDUs (growing degree units) like in the Midwest, but by pushing back development into more heat stress during pollination or increases in disease and insect pressure, increased drought stress, etc.”

• Plant health remains poor past V5. “At that point, reproductive development kicks in.”

e-mail: dbennett@farmpress.com