Wednesday, February 14, 2024 — 11:30 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.

In recent years, many major corn producing areas have experienced an increase in air quality concerns during the summer due to elevated incidence and severity of wildfires in Canada and the western U.S. In late-June of 2023, air quality warnings were issued throughout the Midwest and Canada due to smoke caused by severe and widespread wildfires, which resulted in a noticeable haze and reduction in direct sunlight. Therefore, not only is this a concern for human health, the question that is also asked by many farmers is “how is the smoke impacting crop development?”. This presentation will be aimed at providing some insight to these questions and how wildfire smoke may (or may not) cause harm to corn development and yield.