Jerry’s Corn is Growing

On Saturday, June 26, one week before the Fourth of July, I took a picture of corn up to my chest. Last week I was in Michigan moving our daughter, Laura, out to graduate school. We drove home on the Fourth of July. Sunday afternoon I could not wait to get out to the farm to check out the crops. The corn looked beautiful! It grew almost 2 feet in eight days. I noticed for the second time this year that there were a few yellow to white leaves on the top of some plants.

This is actually a sign of very good growing conditions. The corn is growing rapidly and shooting a new leaf about every two days. In fact, corn is growing so fast it cannot produce enough chlorophyll to keep the new leaves green. In a day or two the leaves turn a nice deep green. Some hybrids show more white leaves than others. It does look a bit strange as you look across the field and you have to remind yourself that everything is OK.