To understand how to manage a corn crop after stress, you must first understand how the corn plant develops and how genetics and environment influence yield. Corn growth and development occurs during a growing season with predictable stages. The plant is the ultimate integrator of the environment in which it grows. The environment has much more impact than we have with management, but we need to provide basic inputs at the right time in order to increase our chances for successful yields.

Grain yield in corn is comprised of the components: ears per unit area, kernel number per ear consisting of kernel rows and kernels per row, and kernel weight. Each of these yield components is determined at different stages in the lifecycle of the plant. Yield components develop by initial cell division near the growing point and formation of numerous primordial tissues that eventually become ears or kernels. Often the number of these early structures is greater than what the plant is later capable of supporting. The plant “adjusts” yield components according to environmental and management stresses that take place during the growing season.