Good morning everyone! Every summer, as conditions heat up and humidity levels rise during mid-summer, we hear the phrase “corn sweat.” I have had many ask me over the last couple weeks what corn sweat actually is. First, “corn sweat” refers to the natural process by which plants, in this case corn, move water through the plant to its surface, which then allows this water to evaporate into the atmosphere. For corn, this transition of water from plant to atmosphere typically occurs through the stomata in leaves as well as other surfaces of the corn. Also, when thinking of how much water is associated with a crop like corn, researchers consider two components: water losses from the soil (evaporation) and water losses from the crop (transpiration). Scientifically, we call this combined process evapotranspiration (ET). A crazy fact is that some research conducted by USDA Agricultural Research Service suggests that corn can contribute between 3,500 and 5,000 gallons of water per acre to the atmosphere over the course of one to two days. A typical pool contains 18,000 – 20,000 gallons. This is just 1 acre!! Just think how many acres you drive by of corn in WCMO!?!?!? All this added moisture into our atmosphere increases our dewpoints and our relative humidity, giving our area a bit more “oppressive” feeling during this time of year. Last year, I did a video with Hunter Lovewell, an previous agronomist here in our area and we ziplocked one individual leaf from a corn stalk for 1 hour in sunshine. After just ONE hour, the ONE leaf produced much visible moisture within the bag. So that is your “Learning With Subby” moment for the day and now you can’t blame me for the oppressive, muggy days………just blame the corn. Have a great day!
