While some causes of corn standability problems are out of your control, controlling what you can is key. Preventive, protective measures can reduce the decline of stalk integrity and lodged corn. Plus accurately assessing standability before harvest can help you set priorities and ensure the highest possible yield for your conditions.
How to keep corn stalks from falling over: 3 tips
Follow these three tips to manage lodging in corn and avoid unexpected problems at harvest.
1. Scout for standability issues to determine at-risk fields
The longer corn matures in the field, the more susceptible it becomes to damage from stalk rots, diseases and other stressors that can compromise standability. These can include:
- Stalk and root lodging due to diseases or low fertility levels.
- Unmanaged diseases that weaken corn plants
- Insect damage due to pests such as corn rootworm
- Stalk rots
- Weather-related plant stress
Conduct a push or pinch test to determine susceptibility to stalk lodging. And look for tell-tale signs that can indicate the cause of standability problems, including:
- Cannibalized pith inside the stalk, which can result from drought conditions
- Discolored stalk interiors, which can be associated with stalk rot disease
2. Adjust your harvesting method for fields with lodged corn
Adjusting when and how you harvest may reduce yield loss.
When to harvest fields if corn is falling over
Prioritize harvesting fields with the most significant signs of lodging, pest damage, or diminished ear integrity. If inclement weather is on the way, those fields will be hit hardest.
How to harvest fields if corn is falling over
Consider combine adjustments to pick up downed corn more effectively. These include but are not limited to:
- Lowering the head
- Using single-direction harvesting patterns against the grain of leaning stalks
- Adjusting gathering chains
- Considering a corn reel to limit machine losses
- Adjusting width of deck plates
- Reducing fan speed
- Slowing rotor speed¹
3. Use integrated disease and pest management to reduce plant stress
Any additional stressors can contribute to lodging in corn (weather, insect, and disease stress being chief among them). You can’t control the weather, but you can control Insect and disease pressure.
- Foliar fungicides: Stressed plants can lead to stalk rots, and stalk rots can lead to stalk lodging. While foliar fungicides cannot directly prevent stalk rot infection, promoting overall plant health can improve the plant’s ability to fight pathogens like stalk rots.
- Cultural practices: Tillage can speed up decomposition of crop residue that may contain stalk rot pathogens, subsequently reducing future soil-borne infections. Crop rotation can help break the life cycle of host-specific insects that thrive on continuous corn systems, such as corn rootworm.
- Insectricidal and Bt control: Controlling insect pests, especially from corn rootworm and corn borer, is key to maintaining stalk and root integrity. A soil-applied insecticide such as Nurizma® can help control corn rootworm. Corn borer damage can be prevented by avoiding very early or very late planting. Also, avoid early-maturing varieties. Consider planting Bt corn, which has proven effective at significantly decreasing borer and corn rootworm populations in corn. Planting a Bt hybrid supplemented with a Nurizma application provides layered protection. Fastac CS® insecticide is an option as a foliar application for corn borer control.
Experts are available to help you manage lodged corn this season. Reach out to your seed retailer, a nearby extension office agent, or a seed company professional like your regional BASF representative.
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Endnotes
- Mensing, Tony. “Tips for 2023 Harvest: Handling Grain when Moisture is Low and Variability is High.” Integrated Crop Management, Iowa State University, 25 Sept. 2023, crops.extension.iastate.edu/cropnews/2023/09/tips-2023-harvest-handling-grain-when-moisture-low-and-variability-high. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.
