b"Delayed Planting Dates Prove to be a Greater Concern than Abiotic Stressors this SeasonTwo experts on agronomy shared insights into the effects of abiotic stressors during pollination during Seed Speaks.Ally RodenCORN, SOYBEANS ANDcanola have enteredThe silent killer for corn with intense heat is wind. the critical reproductive phase where the produc- Wind is one of those things you don't necessar-tion of corn grain, soybean pods and canola kernelsily directly think about when you think of heat. But will be determined. If its really hot or the crop is underanytime you have really hot, humid days, you tend to other stress, it can negatively affect reproduction.get stronger storms. More severe storms tend to hit With rising temperatures and crushing heat waves, it isright around July, around that rapid growth period of essential for farmers to understand how to approachthe corn, explains Koch. It's sort of a side effect of the these stressors to save their crop and yield. heat, but the heat can lead into strong storms, which Tom Koch, research manager at Becks Hybrids, anddoes cause some issues with green snap with lodging. Wayne Fithian, agronomy manager at Rob-See-Co,I'd rather see it in my field than in a farmer's fieldTom Koch.shared what stressors they have seen so far this seasonso I can sort it out. Hopefully by the time it gets to the as of Aug. 3. While storms through the Corn Belt andfarmer's field, we've already sorted out the weaker hot conditions have impacted crops, this season hasntrooted or the green snap susceptible, but that's always seen anything out of the ordinary, according to Koch. a risk, he continues. You get high heat, high storms One of the big stressors we saw were a lot ofand all the associated problems with that.storms going through the Corn Belt here in the U.S., explains Koch. Weve gotten plenty of rain aroundThe Future of Tackling Abiotic Stressorspollination time, but leading into pollination, it may be aWhen it comes to future planning for abiotic stressors, little short. So, just your typical environmental stress- a biological treatment might help. Biological treat-ors. I don't think it's been a crazy year. ments are a way farmers can plan for stressors, and The biggest factor that concerns Fithian is thethis technology has developed over the years, along delayed planting dates. In the May Crop Progresswith developments in crop genetics.report from the USDA, 49% of corn was planted, com- We now have multiple approaches to improving pared to the previous five-year average of 67%. Andcorns tolerance to drought faster, or more completely, 14% of planted corn had emerged. than we can with just the use of traditional breeding One of the things that happened in the Corn Belttechniques. There are a lot of nice genes that are herit- 49 %this year is that we got off to a slow start in terms ofable, and that we can move and sort and bring for-planting dates, and that can be a stressor in itself. Bothward; some of them natural to the corn crop and someof corn was corn and soybeans are a little bit out of the norm infrom other sources, says Fithian.planted, terms of their growth stage relative to temperaturesAs a breeder, Koch has seen firsthand the develop- compared to the previous and daytime length, so that's altered the growth rate,ments that have taken place over the past few years.five-year he says. They had to grow faster to catch up and thatWe've become much more resilient to stressors,average of means the factory runs a little bit less. They make lessmainly because we've seen the stressors during the67 %sugar, so that can certainly be a yield limitation. season. And that's just through natural breeding and While the eastern Corn Belt has received rainfall, thenatural selection. You top that off with some of theAnd 14 %western Corn Belt is dry, and becomes progressivelydifferent biotech technologies, and even in the future more dry in the High Plains area of the far westerngetting into gene editing, we may even be able to haveof planted corn Corn Belt. Signs of drought include a reduction inmore promise of improved tolerance. But as a breeder,had emerged.height, lower ear placement and leaf burn, sharesthey say you can only improve what you can select for, Fithian. Additional signs such as poor pollination, scat- and the past couple of years we've definitely been able tered fill in the grain or even lack of pollination, espe- to select for some heat, select for some drought, so it cially on inbreds for inbred production fields, could behas absolutely increased our genetics and the genic indicators of harm from abiotic stressors, adds Koch. potential is certainly improved, concludes Koch.SW52/ SEEDWORLD.COMOCTOBER 2022"