Long Ear Shanks

Long Ear Shank. Source: B. McDonald, 2019.

 

Symptoms:

Greater expression of ear shank length than normal. Other hybrids in same field did not exhibit a long shank,Same hybrid planted in neighboring fields by same farmer also exhibited these unusually long shanks.

 

Affected plants were not  stressed for water. Periods of high temperature but mitigated by adequate soil moisture. Associate with a non-transgenic hybrid that has been available for several years. Shanks are usually just long enough to allow the ear to hang rather than stay upright. Has not been observed previously by the seed company agronomist and technical personnel.

 

Causes:

Unknown.  Possibly due to a hybrid by environment interaction that affects expression of ear shank length. Perhaps a brief period of above/below average temperatures combined with above and below average rainfall during ear formation.