Purdue’s Retired ‘Corn Guy’ Bob Nielsen Shares Concerns Over April Planted Corn

According to the USDA, one-fifth of Indiana’s corn crop for this year was planted before May 1. With the cold, wet conditions that lead into the first few days of May, there are concerns about the outcome of that early-planted corn in April.
“As usual it is a waiting game,” says Dr. Bob Nielsen, who recently retired as a Purdue Extension Corn Specialist and is Professor Emeritus of Agronomy at Purdue University’s College of Agriculture. Nielsen says he’s been warning farmers that corn planted in April may have been injured by the cold temperatures we saw leading into May.
“Throughout at least the eastern corn belt where the temperatures for the past couple of weeks have certainly been below optimum, if not downright injurious to the crop, we may determine there are a number of fields that have stand problems. There could be poor germination or corn leafing out underground or plants that are stunted because of the unusually cool air and soil temperatures we’ve had. It remains to see what that impact will be,” according to Nielsen.
He says the warmer temperatures we’ve seen recently week have been much more supportive for corn planting.
“The forecast leading forward is much more favorable in terms of temperatures,” says Nielsen. “I think anything planted this week forward is going to germinate and emerge much more quickly than what’s been put into the ground the previous two weeks.”
Nielsen adds it may take several weeks to see if April planted corn was harmed by the earlier cold, wet conditions.
“We can hem-and-haw about what the crop in the ground may look like but until we see it, walk it, and evaluate it, it is a little hard to say for certain,” says Nielsen.
As of May 8, 36 percent of Indiana’s corn crop has been planted and six percent has already emerged according to the USDA.
Click here to read Dr. Bob Nielsen’s recent article about the risks of early-planted corn.
Click below to hear C.J. Miller’s radio news report for Hoosier Ag Today.

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Sources: USDA, NAFB News Service, Todd Gleason, WILL, Urbana, Illinois.