Weather forecast looks like rain Thursday night/Friday that will catch a good bit of west TN and move eastward and this will put a halt to planting once again.  We have made decent planting progress considering what we are working with on rainfall.  Check your fields before moving equipment and try not to plant into fields that are too heavy.  We all know where we are on the calendar and the sense of urgency to plant before the end of April is strong.  But, wet heavy ground causes its own set of problems that may come back to haunt us later– furrows that don’t stay closed, sidewalls that slick off, irregular emergence where that late emerging corn becomes a weed.   If I had the choice of planting too wet today (before a rain won’t help either) or wait until early next week I would opt to wait.

I have been checking back over fields that were planted April 8 and 9.  Some no-till fields with very little residue are a little tough on the top where the winds and sun have dried out the top.  A shower this evening will help soften the ground and help the corn push through easier and I think these will be okay.  In some of the worst cases, soil was turbo-tilled or lightly worked to help it dry out and it got the 3.5″ plus rains last week that sealed the surface pretty good–replant is highly likely.  Larry has posted crop destruct options for killing corn if tillage isn’t an option.  Check your hybrid.  Since many hybrids now contain Liberty Link or if you aren’t clear about what was planted, you probably need to focus on using either Select and waiting 7 days or Gramoxone + PSII herbicide to take the corn out.