Damaging Winds Set Corn Back

“One of the keys to recovery of root-lodged plants is the degree to which the lower stalk can turn back upwards, bending so that the leaves can be reoriented better to intercept sunlight.” he said. “The later in growth the lodging happens, the less flexibility stalks have to do this and the higher up the stem this flexibility exists. Such plants end up ‘goose-necked’, but that by itself doesn’t cause a lot of harm if the leaves can intercept the sunlight and the roots can recover well enough.”

Research that has been done in which plants are artificially root-lodged at different times and to different degrees has generally shown some yield loss. But this loss has not been as great as the appearance of the crop immediately after the event might suggest, Nafziger added.