Much better this year — 2026 pollinated in a cool, wet June while 2025 pollinated straight into July heat.
| 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Pollination window | Jun 13 – Jul 12 | May 29 – Jun 29 |
| Rain (21-day avg) | 2.38" | 4.41" |
| Days ≥ 90°F | 10.2 | 0.1 |
| Days ≥ 95°F | 1.6 | 0.0 |
| Avg high | 89.4°F | 82.9°F |
| Avg low (night) | 72.4°F | 66.2°F |
| Warm nights ≥ 74°F | 7.0 | 1.2 |
The earlier planting is the whole story. Pushing pollination into early-mid June meant your corn silked before summer heat set in — essentially zero days over 90°F this year vs ten last year, cooler nights, and nearly double the rain. Last year the crop tasseled into a July hot stretch with only ~2.4" over three weeks, which is on the dry side for pollination and pairs badly with the heat.
Both windows are fully in the books (2026's latest ended June 29), so this isn't a partial read. On weather alone, kernel set and pollination should look notably stronger this year — the heat and moisture stress that can blank tips and abort kernels just wasn't there in 2026.
One caveat: this is stress during pollination only. It says nothing about grain fill ahead of you in July–August, which is where a hot, dry finish could still pull yields back. Want me to track the same heat/moisture stress through the grain-fill window as this season progresses, or break the pollination numbers out field-by-field to see if any fields still caught a hot spell?