The Georgia Agricultural
Experiment Station
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
The University of Georgia
Research Report Number 675
November 2001
Edited by Anton E. Coy, J. LaDon Day and Paul A. Rose
The 2001 corn season was generally favorable for grain production. Wet soils in late March delayed planting in south Georgia. By mid-April, adequate moisture and above normal temperatures allowed emergence to be ahead of average. In May, normal daytime and below normal night-time temperatures favored corn growth except for above normal temperatures during the last week. Near normal temperatures and generally adequate moisture conditions allowed the crop to progress at a near average pace through June. Some areas continued to receive good rainfall during July while others began to stress. Favorable conditions allowed maturity to progress at an average pace. Some areas in southwestern Georgia were affected by leaf diseases but, in general, plant health was good. Harvest and storage insect numbers were above average in some areas.
Soil moisture conditions during the season were more nearly normal than any year since 1997. Rainfall at the six Georgia and at the Quincy, Florida, corn variety test sites is listed below.
| Growing Season Rainfall1, 2001 | |||||||
| Month | Blairsville | Calhoun2 | Griffin | Midville | Plains | Tifton | Quincy, FL |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - inches - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - | |||||||
| February | 3.57 | 3.25 | 3.24 | 1.45 | 0.45 | 0.63 | 0.73 |
| March | 5.31 | 6.38 | 9.79 | 8.30 | 10.67 | 9.95 | 9.91 |
| April | 1.88 | 2.05 | 3.23 | 1.44 | 2.39 | 1.69 | 1.20 |
| May | 4.32 | 3.75 | 2.65 | 2.09 | 1.33 | 1.51 | 1.10 |
| June | 8.69 | 5.36 | 5.46 | 4.00 | 11.57 | 6.95 | 12.42 |
| July | 3.28 | 2.86 | 1.51 | 1.55 | 3.70 | 3.42 | 5.24 |
| August | 3.11 | 2.54 | 1.53 | 1.74 | 2.65 | 1.84 | 5.61 |
| September | 6.33 | 2.54 | 1.18 | 3.26 | 4.98 | 3.11 | 7.65 |
| - | |||||||
| Total (8 mo.) | 36.49 | 28.73 | 28.59 | 23.83 | 37.74 | 29.10 | 43.86 |
| - | |||||||
| Normal (8 mo.) | 38.53 | 37.14 | 35.88 | 34.70 | 34.71 | 35.28 | - |
| 1. Data
submitted by Dr. G. Hoogenboom, Georgia Station, Griffin, GA. 2. Floyd County location. |
|||||||
Harvest proceeded a week behind average with generally good field conditions. Of the 280,000 planted acres, some 220,000 were harvested for a record estimated average yield of 126 bushels per acre. Total grain production for 2001 was 27.7 million bushels, an 18-percent decrease from 2000.