Robb Rynd and his brother manage a bit more than 200 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat and sorghum and enjoyed a strong crop last year. This year, widespread brown and wilting leaves and missing kernels signal pollination problems that could reduce yields. Consistently high overnight temperatures, drought and poorly timed heavy rains can all interfere with pollination and kernel development. Human-caused climate change has increased extreme heat events and hotter nights since 1970. Late-season favorable weather helped produce a predicted bumper crop, but intensifying extreme swings are making outcomes more uncertain for farmers.
All summer he's been scouting for brown and wilting leaves or ears of corn with kernels missing, and now it's becoming clear that every kernel will count this harvest. "It's almost kind of depressing to go out there and look at it and say, 'oh yep, it does look bad,'" he said.
Across major corn-growing states, climate change is fueling conditions that make watching the corn grow a nail-biter for farmers. Factors like consistently high summer overnight temperatures, droughts and heavier-than-usual rains at the wrong time can all disrupt the plants' pollination - making each full ear of corn less of a guarantee and more of a gamble. Overall, corn growers got lucky this year with late-season weather that contributed to what is now predicted to be a record bumper crop.
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