Corn and Soybeans Developing Nicely

I took these pictures this afternoon out at the farm. In the corn picture notice that the silks coming out of the developing ear are mostly dark brown. When the corn is pollinating the silks are a light green. When the future kernel of corn is fertilized the silk attached to that kernel in the ear turns brown. That is a sign that pollination is finished. We were fortunate that we had nearly ideal weather for pollination. Temperatures were near normal and the corn was not under moisture stress due to a drought.

The soybeans are moving along nicely too. I took this picture of a developing pod near the bottom of a soybean plant. These pods will continue to develop while at the same time soybeans are still flowering higher on the plant. With favorable weather many of those flowers will develop into pods filled with beans. Corn has one chance to pollinate and that is it. Beans continue their reproductive phase for weeks. After a rain in late August or early September I have seen beans grow taller, flower and set pods on the top of the plant.