Jim Futterer, co-executive director of the Dude Ranchers Association, said fewer Europeans likely will visit this year because of such precautions. European travelers are an attractive market for dude ranch operators because they tend to stay longer than domestic travelers. While they make up only a small portion of total dude ranch visitors, Europeans make up more than 30 percent of some isolated ranches clientele, he said. Individual ranches are allowed to decide for themselves what restrictions to put in place. Shelly Carroccia, of Sweet Grass Ranch at Big Timber, Mont., said no local producers have expressed concern about foreign visitors, who have been supportive of the ranch s protocol.
Corn develops faster when temperatures are warmer and more slowly when temperatures are cooler.
For example, a string of warmer than normal days in late spring will encourage faster leaf development than normal. Another example is that a cooler than normal grain filling period will delay the calendar date of grain maturity. The calculation method most commonly used in the U.S. for determining heat unit accumulation relative to corn phenology is the formula first suggested by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1969 and labeled as the 'Modified Growing Degree Day' formula in 1971. This method calculates daily accumulation of GDDs as the average daily temperature minus 50 Fahrenheit. The 'modification' refers to the limits imposed on the daily maximum and minimum temperatures allowed in the calculation.