Midwest Heat in Late Summer? Blame Corn

Labor Day came and went, which means fall is here—or what some may call the second summer, with heat still sticking around.

And that’s causing many to sweat—mainly corn. “Corn sweat” has recently amplified high temperatures and humidity in the Midwest. Evapotranspiration occurs in late summer, leading to a stickier feeling in the air.

Evapo-what-now? Evapotranspiration is when maturing corn releases moisture late in the growing season.

Corn sweat is common in major corn production areas such as Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Sweating corn releases about 3K to 4K gallons of water per day per acre during peak evapotranspiration season in July and August.

That Field of Dreams sounds like more of a Field of Steams.

Viral phenomenon: Corn is not the only plant that undergoes this natural process, but it gets the most attention toward the end of August. It also makes it difficult to scroll social media without stumbling across a post about corn sweat.

Chill out: Aside from the occasional warmups, typical for September, humidity from crops will begin to cool ahead of the fall harvest. 

However, we likely won’t hear the end of it come next year, especially when corn sweat becomes a talking point around climate change.