Corn Development and Growth Staging
Corn crops are one of the most adaptable members of the grass family. Every fall, more than 14 billion bushels of corn are harvested by North American farmers. This popular crop is grown for various uses including food production, starch, corn-derived alcohol, corn syrup, animal feed, and more.
Producing high-yielding, quality corn crops requires a strong understanding of their growth throughout production. A deep understanding of each stage of development will help you better manage the crop from planting to harvest. Certain fertility decisions are only effective at specific stages of development, and factors like the climate and soil conditions can impact the evolution of growth. Thus, it is important to better understand corn’s growth stages and development cycle to better manage crop production while meeting your goals. Knowing what stage of growth your crops are in will also allow you to better manage their health, assess crop quality, and determine the best time to harvest.
The stages of corn development can be broken into two parts: vegetative stages and reproductive stages. Vegetative stages can be defined by leaf collars—where the number of leaf collars helps to identify the growth stage (VE, V1, etc.). Reproductive stages begin after the tassels have emerged and silking begins.
Vegetative Stages
In the vegetative stages, shoots emerge from the soil, leaves emerge from the plant, ear and tassel shoots begin forming, and flowering begins. The vegetative stages end when the lowest branch of the tassel is visible.
Reproductive Stages
During the reproductive stages, silk extends on the exterior of husk leaves, maximum plant heights are reached, the quantity of kernels is determined, silks darken and dry out, kernels yellow and fill with starch, and corn crops reach maturity.
Read each of the MORE buttons below to learn more about each stage of development.
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