Small corn can usually withstand weather damage much easier than larger corn, especially the type of wind, hail and tornado extremes that blew through the state over the last 2 weeks. However, I wanted to comment about some questions coming in on wind damaged plants. Continue reading
We haven’t had enough consecutive dry days to get much corn planted early this spring and it looks like producers who want to stay with their intended corn acres will likely be wrapping up in May. Most areas in Tennessee have not received the heavy rains that soaked other states but wet is still wet regardless of the total rainfall amounts. I have talked with some growers who are about 50% planted and waiting for 3 or 4 good dry days to show significant progress. Continue reading
The warm weather bursts we are having in between rains have helped get what corn that is planted out of the ground much quicker than usual for April and that has reduced our replant situations. And our corn is much too small to be a target for damaging wind and hail. I know that folks are checking corn stands in fields that have gone through several rains between planting and emergence. The following table lists the row lengths to count plants for a population estimate in 1/1000th of an acre. Continue reading
Another title for this article might be “It’s hard to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.” This doesn’t affect everyone, but I have had enough calls this spring from folks who are looking at commodity prices and have already started the process or are thinking about taking an old pasture or sod field and converting it into either corn or soybeans. Well maintained ‘new ground’ can yield very well and often has less disease and nematode pressure. However, it may be impossible to make poor ground into a productive field if compaction or low soil pH cannot be corrected in time for the cropping season or at all. Input costs must be weighed against realistic yield potential– particularly in fields that have not been limed or fertilized regularly for years. Continue reading
Recent March weather has been really mild and corn planting has begun in some counties. We are late enough into March that I don’t think we are starting too early, even with the cool front and rain forecasted for early next week. But, if we knew what the weather was going to be like in April we would know how much March corn we should plant. Continue reading