Pioneer agronomist Dan Emmert says planters were rolling in southwest Indiana that first week of April and now they’re about 80% done with corn and soybean planting in that region. With conditions being dry and cool, he does have some concerns.
“Emergence looks good for the most part, but we were cool, so things took some time to come up. With that, we’re seeing a greater opportunity for insect feeding as that stuff was laying in the ground longer. So, we’re seeing some pockets of a wireworm and seed corn maggot feeding.”
Emmert says the bigger concern stems from the 3 inches of rain received in some areas last week. For that corn that was planted a month ago, “The seed treatment protection is starting to wear off, and so one of the things I’m kind of worried about, or going to be keeping an eye on here over the next week for the early planted stuff, is seedling blight. Especially in those poorly drained areas with high residue.
“And for the seeds that were planted late last week just ahead of the rain, I’m really going to keep an eye on how long those soils have been saturated. Especially with more rain coming in early this week, if we’ve got pockets of the field that have been saturated for more than 48 hours, we really start to worry about the survival of those seedlings and keep an eye on those patches for replant,” says Emmert.
With more rain in the forecast, Emmert is urging farmers to practice patience before getting back out with the planter. He says there are still a couple of weeks left before we give up too much yield potential, so there’s no need to be mudding things in to get that last 20% completed.