Each week we will be offering the air Growing Degree Days (GDDs) for corn that have accumulated to date from 13 locations across the team 8 county area. 

Four planting dates will be listed and included will be:
GDDs Season To Date
15 Year Average GDDs
30 Year "Normal" GDD
Period of Record - Max and min recorded GDDs for that time period

Growing Degree Days for corn are Base 86/50 degree F and calculated by taking the average daily temperature, ((Daily Max Temp - Daily Min Temp)/2) - 50.  But the maximum temperature cannot be more than  86 degree F and the minimum less than 50 degree F.

See: Growing Degree Calculator

Planting date GDDs continue above the 15 year average and definitely above the 30 year "normal" for the date and the May 10 and 20 planting dates are near record GDDs for this date. If you know your GDDs for your hybrid to physiological maturity(black layer) subtract off 150 GDDs to get you roughly the GDDs needed to silage harvest dry matter for that hybrid. However…:

As noted previously, Joe Lawrence from the ProDairy Program suggests taking note of tasseling dates as those serve as a better starting place to project corn silage harvest dates than planting dates. Silage harvest is likely to begin at about 800 GDDs after tasseling for 101-110 day hybrids and 750 GDDs for 96-100 day hybrids.  Using the GDDs after tasseling to harvest and the Climate Smart Farming Website's 15 year GDD data it is possible to make projections as to when corn silage harvest might begin. If you saw tasseling/silking in the middle of July you may have started harvesting corn silage this week or will be ready to start next week. Record Silking/Tasseling Dates for Corn Fields

We've noticed that fewer fields are being affected by the typical late-season foliar diseases, so the green foliage may mislead you into thinking you still have time - so check your crop to make sure you're on schedule for harvest.

Everyone got at least 0.5" of rain from yesterday's storms, and those in the western and southern parts of the region (all except Fulton, Montgomery, and Saratoga counties) saw an inch or more. Totals from the last 3 days are nearly double. This will surely slow drydown a bit, but keep an eye on your crop's development and don't let it get away from you. We're expecting more rain next week, and temps are projected to be within the normal range.

Bunker silage should be ~65-70% moisture at harvest (30-35% DM), so if you have early-planted corn in some of the lower-lying areas (especially in the eastern part of the region this year!), take note of what stage you're at in the coming days and weeks:

See the attached table for more of the August 27, 2020 results. See the attached pdf for a good guide on corn development and our reference for growth stages.