In Field Diagnostic of Ear Size Irregularity
Farmer noticed a lack of uniformity in ear size and wanted help diagnosing. The first step was to do a stand and ear count to see how the stand count deviated from planted population and how ear count differed from stand count. Then on barren plants and small ears looking to stalk diameter. If less than 1/3 the diameter of neighboring normal plants, would indicate issue happened early season. If the stalk diameter is uniform then the issue most likely occurred in the reproductive stages, looking for things that came in at or after pollination as the culprit. Use what clues you can find on the plant to help figure out what the issue was so you can make adjustments for the future.