Growing Degree Days

• GDD (growing degree days) are extremely important in agriculture as they represent the accumulated warmth of the growing season and the maturity of the crops.
• Most plants are not killed by cool temperatures above freezing (32°F), but many species do not start growing until the daily temperature rise above certain thresholds.

Corn has a base temperature of 50°F and each corn hybrid has a certain GDD requirement to reach maturity. Those grown in the central Corn Belt require anywhere from 2100 to 3200 GDD depending on the hybrid. Source: Allexxandar/VectorStock.com