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Growing Degree Days Predictions For Corn And Sorghum Development And Some Applications To Crop Production In Nebraska, R. E. Neild, M. W. Seeley

Historical Research Bulletins of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station

The concept of growing degree days (GDD) originated with observations by Reamur (1735) that plant development is more closely related to the temperature accumulated to a given stage than with time alone. It was not until nearly 200 years later, however, that Merriam (1894), Livingston (1916) and Klages (1942) began to use temperature accumulations in plant distribution studies and in crop geography. In the early 1950's, a system involving growing degree days became widely used in the canning industry to schedule plantings and thus control time of harvest of rapidly maturing vegetables. This system provided a more precise control of …