Question: Last year, we had a number of ears of corn that split. We are sending you a picture, so you can see what we’re talking about. What would cause this?

 

 

Answer: I can’t tell you with 100 percent certainty what caused the ears to split like this, but there are only a couple of things I can think of that may have caused the problem. These split ears are pretty unusual and I would say that, most likely, they were caused by a genetic mutation. A second possibility would be a heavy stinkbug infestation. What occurs in that scenario is that in the early shoot, around V9, the stinkbugs pierce completely through the ear and cause an infection to occur. I have seen this type of stinkbug problem only once in 25 years, however.