Wet spell sees crops go green

摘要

Reports from growers who have already harvested a proportion of their maize crops this year suggest crops have chopped wetter than predicted, says Neil Groom, technical manager for Grainseed. "In many areas plants were under water stress through Juneand July, but once we had rain they produced a lot of growth and we had excellent pollination and grain set. The recent wet weather has caused dry matters to slow and crops to green up again, but autumn is here and the plant is making starch rapidly." Growers need to consider how green and lively the plants are and the moisture contained in the stem. "Cut plants off at the base and twist the stem to see how much water is contained in the stem. Ideally there should be little juice and the stem is iibrous.