Purdue Extension’s Dan ‘Corn’ Quinn and ‘Soybean Shaun’ Casteel are back with another episode of the Purdue Crop Chat Podcast, found now at hoosieragtoday.com. We discuss record yields for Indiana corn and soybeans in ’23 and what to plan for in ’24.
Planting dates are playing a big role in yield results. If May ends up as wet as HAT Chief Meteorologist Ryan Martin is calling for now, Quinn was asked if he’d rather have April 15th planted corn or June 5th. He says June 5th without a doubt.
“We saw it last year…I had some corn trials planted June 1 and they were really good yields. It got planted into really good conditions and the ground was warm and it shot out of the ground. You know, I could plant April 15th and I could plant May 10 and based on if it turned off cold after April 15th, that crop is probably not coming out that much later on May 10th than it would be on April 15th. And with corn, if you lose say 5%-10% of your stand with beans, that’s a different story than losing 5%-10% of your stand with corn. It’s just not going to compensate to that level.”
Casteel says the more timely planted soybeans have been yielding better over the past several years where we’ve seen statewide record averages. April 15th is a good time for those.
“I’m not pulling the trigger per se April 15th just because it’s that day if we’re getting sidewall compaction, if we’re smearing all that. I certainly think it goes back to in ’23, we had great stand establishment and we were able to weather the dry side of it. It’s going to be the same thing if it does turn off wet. You want a plant that’s already there with established root systems to go through that, especially if it’s going to be wet.”
Casteel thinks that timely planting helps out in a number of ways.
“You think about any of the seedling diseases that could come into this. I definitely have been one when you’re looking at timely planting beans to have a fungicide seed treatment out there, thinking about how they’re going to be sitting in soils that are colder. Some of the diseases really like that cold and wet.”
We discuss much more, including fashion. Yes…fashion. Listen now below.
