A Warning About Getting Back in the Field Too Soon

Excessive rainfall last week hampered harvest progress across Indiana. USDA says 92% of topsoil moisture is reported as adequate or surplus. Pioneer Field Agronomist Brian Shrader says he understands the need and the desire to go get the crop out, but he warns against getting back in too soon and causing long-term damage.

“Trying to fix the compaction and rutting issues that we put this fall prior to next spring’s planting window are not high to try to get back in and be able to do that where we’re at. It’s just awfully hard when you make those kinds of ruts and start to put that much compaction in the soil that you can even get that removed in a single season. Those are the types of things that we see long term damage from over multiple seasons.”

It’s a tightrope that farmers walk in this situation as stalk quality issues in corn continue to be a major concern.

“Frankly, the wet weather and then the warmth that we get, that’s not going to be helpful for those standability issues. So, you do have to walk a line. I think that you’ve got to look at and prioritize your fields based on the stalk quality from a corn standpoint, but you also need to prioritize those farms that you know will dry out a little bit sooner. Whether that means maybe pushing the envelope on maturity or moisture on the soybeans potentially, I think you’ve just got a look at the prioritization of your corn standability issues and the soil and how little damage you can do if you do go in in the next couple days.”

Shrader says he would lean more toward prioritizing corn at this point if it’s dry enough to go get.

I discuss much more with Pioneer’s Brian Shrader, including wheat planting progress being behind in Indiana, in the full HAT interview below:

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