The standard method used to follow and predict corn growth stages is using growing degree days (GDD). This is a calculation that uses average daily temperatures to measure accumulated heat over the growing season. Most of the GDD values we use are from the Mid-West, so we have followed a few research fields the past two years to compare how DE lines up. We have also included days from planting and light accumulation (pulled from DEOS) to compare other measurement methods (Table 1 – flip phone sideways for best presentation).
| Table 1: Following Corn Vegetative Growth Stages (2019-2020) | ||||||
| Emerge | V3 | V6 | V9 | V12 | VT | |
| Days from Planting | 5-13 | 12-31 | 22-48 | 35-63 | 44-76 | 53-82 |
| Growing Degree Days | 84-150 | 219-310 | 492-603 | 787-950 | 1001-1337 | 1231-1322 |
| Total Light | 125-302 | 271-609 | 530-996 | 828-1343 | 1055-1664 | 1265-1508 |
