Heat-Stress and Lack of Moisture on Corn and Soybeans in SWNY
Joshua Putman, Field Crops and Forage Specialist
Southwest New York Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Program

Last week, SWNY was experiencing severe heat as well as symptoms of drought stress and seen in many crops. Corn leaves were rolling, soybean leaves were flipped, leaf tissue was turning grey, and there was no sight of rain. Luckily, much of SWNY received 0.5-2.0 inches of rain over the weekend. However, the period of time that the heat and moisture stress occurred may have affected our overall yields. Drought stress during vegetative stages results in reduced stem and leaf cell expansion (shorter plants with less leaf area). When drought stress is combined with heat stress, vegetative development will progress more rapidly. Any stress that occurs during the sixth to eighth leaf stage (V6-V8) can result in fewer kernel rows, whereas stress from eighth leaf to seventeenth leaf stage (V8-V17) can result in fewer kernels per row. Field Crop Specialist, Josh Putman, is seeing tasseled corn fields at heights of only 4.5-5ft throughout SWNY. Contact Josh if you have questions about your crops. For more information about the influence of drought on crops, check out this document by Iowa State University.
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September 25, 2023
Mt. Morris, NY
Grazing sheep beneath utility-scale solar arrays can build wealth of present and future sheep farmers as vegetation management service providers and access to additional pasture. The Cornell Cooperative Enterprise Program (CEP) conducted a survey earlier this year completed by over 600 farmers. Farmers identified barriers to grazing sheep under solar arrays and weighed in on need for a producer-led organization to negotiate contracts on their behalf, coordinate logistics of multiple flocks, provide transport of sheep to and from the site, care for sheep while on-site, and provide supplemental mowing. Additional questions focused on processing and marketing needs.
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October 4, 2023
What Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong!
Good ole' Murphy's Law is probably the best description of what it's like to be a farmer that there is! Join Cornell Cooperative Extension Farm Business Management Specialist, Katelyn Walley-Stoll, to learn more about the 5 areas of risk on farms and how to develop strategies to manage those risks. Participants will have the opportunity to identify areas of risk on their own farms and brainstorm ways to (try to) prevent the inevitable!
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