While corn maturity and harvest are still some time away, it is never too early to be aware of potential challenges to crop growth and development and harvest. Are you at risk of leaving some ears behind? As ears fill out and eventually begin to mature and dry down, corn plants become very top-heavy. Stalk rots increase the chance that plants will fall over (lodge) due to a combination of gravity and weather. In addition to being not-so-fun to harvest, lodged plants can significantly decrease harvestable yield by literally leaving some ears on the ground. Stress conditions favor stalk rots. The combination of mid-season environmental conditions that favor kernel-set followed by conditions that stress plants increases the risk of stalk rot. This year, weather conditions in much of Northwestern Minnesota were relatively mild during silking and pollen shed, favoring good kernel set. However, since then much of the crop has experienced abnormally dry or even moderate drought condition