Fast and furious planting activity will be coming to an end this week in some parts of IN. DuPont Pioneer agronomist TC Huffman says, in some parts of East Central Indiana, corn planting is coming to and end and many growers are turning to soybeans, “We had some growers that wrapped up their corn planting this weekend, and they are getting a good start on soybeans. We have a few areas on the Southeast where they caught a few more showers, so they are further behind; but we are making good progress.”
While the crop got put in later than most producers had hoped, Huffman says the real concern now is what the weather will be going forward, “What the weather does from here on is going to determine a lot of what is going to happen. Our focus is what kind of weather is coming after planting and how will that affect emergence.” He said corn in his area has been emerging in about 7 to 10 days after planting, which is about average given the growing degree units that have been accumulating. He feels that, while the crop is late, it is off to a very good start.
Huffman does worry about what might happen if dry conditions set in. He said the soil may be dry on top but wet underneath, “And I am concerned we may have some compaction issues under where we planted, and if we turn off dry it may be hard for those roots to push through.” He added, if the rains keep coming for a few weeks, the roots should be able to push through that layer.
Weed pressure continues to be a problem; and, with the crop planted or being planted, growers are running out of options to control some of those problem weeds. Huffman said some growers planted into a heavy weed bed while others dropped the use of 2-4-D to avoid a 2 week delay before planting, “When we start eliminating modes of action in our herbicide programs, we may have some problems.” He said marestail is an especially big problem this year and may be harder to control the larger it gets. “There are some concerns in some of these soybean fields that we may not have the kind of weed control we would like,” he said.
Listen to the complete report with TC Huffman on the DuPont Pioneer agronomy page at our web site and in the audio section of our app for smartphones and tablets.