A recent study published in Frontiers in Agronomy suggests that corn producers can use geospatial and remote sensing technologies to accurately measure the damage and estimate potential economic loss.
The United States is the world's greatest producer of corn; in 2021, the state of Mississippi alone will harvest more than 28 million tons. Natural disasters such as flooding, hailstorms, and wind pose serious risks to the Mississippi Delta, one of the state's most important corn-growing regions.
Researchers in Stoneville, Mississippi, utilized a GPS-mounted yield monitoring device to evaluate the extent of green snap or "brittle snap" in cornfields after high winds swept across the Delta region in May and June of 2022. Researchers gathered yield maps from several different cornfields and studied them to determine how much of a loss in output may be attributed to wind damage. "The research results could help predict potential yield loss of (approximately 26 pounds per acre per 1% of total wind damage) and economic loss to assist producers and other stakeholders in decision-making to prepare for changing weather patterns and unprecedented severe windstorms in the future," ARS Research Agronomist Ammar Bhandari stated. In places with less than 25% wind damage, the projected loss was $76 per acre, whereas in areas with more than 75% wind damage, the estimated loss was $232 per acre.
To better quantify site-specific wind damage across wide areas, growers can use geospatial technologies to obtain precise GPS coordinates of the damaged sites and combine these with data from yield monitors to estimate yield loss. Potential crop loss and economic loss can be predicted using the study's findings, which could help producers and other stakeholders make more informed decisions as they adapt to shifting weather patterns and unprecedented severe windstorms.
The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the primary scientific in-house research agency within the United States Department of Agriculture and works to find answers to agricultural issues facing the country. There is a multiplier effect of $20 for every $1 spent on agricultural research in the United States.
