Volunteer corn a problem weed for areas impacted by August derecho

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Volunteer corn a problem weed for areas impacted by August derecho

Ear droppage resulting from the derecho wind event last August has created a significant volunteer corn problem.

BASF tech service rep Mark Storr covers central Iowa and tells Brownfield most growers impacted by the storm opted to plant soybeans where possible this year.

“Corn-on-corn is a little different animal, and (those farmers) were really taking a risk if they planted corn-on-corn. We simply don’t have the tools to manage volunteer corn in corn, in most cases.”

With soybeans, he says there’s a variety of management tools that are very effective in controlling volunteer corn.

“Not only is volunteer corn an eyesore, which I think a lot of people just don’t like to see those clumps of corn growing out in the field, it just looks ugly. We like to see nice uniform, clean rows of soybeans. But the competitiveness factor comes in, and it can be significant.”

Storr says volunteer corn populations are dramatically higher than normal in the derecho zone and it would not surprise him to see 20 percent yield reductions in soybean fields with a bad case of volunteer corn.

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