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SONNY BECK REPORTS ON SEED POLLINATION DURING CURRENT HEAT WAVE
Jun. 28, 2012
BrownfieldAgNews reports:
Mother Nature has thrown corn growers another curveball this year. Not only is she wreaking havoc on the nation's crop - she is also creating problems for seed corn production.
Sonny Beck, president of Beck's Hybrids says when the weather reaches 95 degrees - pollination simply just doesn't occur. "We only have 10 to 15 percent as much pollen in the field and it all is like little bubbles that get killed by heat," he says.
Beck says they planned this year for a 2x production - meaning producing double the seed of what their sales were last year.
He said up until a week ago - that was still possible. "But, the heat is going to kill us," he says. "We have enough irrigation and we have enough water holding capacity in the soils - that we can produce 2/3 of a seed corn crop if it almost didn't rain again."
Beck said it was the heat stress that damaged seed production last year. For example, Beck noted they had fields last year that were irrigated - and it didn't matter if it was at the center of the pivot or at the end of irrigation unit the seed was damaged by heat stress.
Beck says if temperatures are as hot as they were last year - it could indeed mean another short crop again this year.
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