As soils warm up, microbial organisms go to work decomposing last year’s cornstalks and residue. The organisms consume a lot of nitrogen to do their job. That consumption means fewer nutrients – especially nitrogen – are available to fuel your current crop. When your new crop cannot access adequate nutrients, its growth slows or stalls – in essence, it pays a penalty.
That Yellowing and Striping You're Seeing are likely Zinc and Sulfur Deficiencies
Yes, the problem could also be a nitrogen deficiency or even a phosphate deficiency. Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist, provides photos to identify which deficiency your crop is encountering to determine next steps.
Ear count, not just population, makes corn yield. The first step to more ears per field is stand and ear counts. Determine the causes of gaps, late-emerging plants and missing ears, and then fix the problems next season.
Plan Your Potassium Strategy to Avoid Crop Deficiencies
"Farmers are finding that the more years they band the nutrient, the fewer potassium problems they see," says Ken Ferrie. "If plants don’t use all the potassium in a band that year, the unused potassium remains to feed crops in future years."
