Chad Lee, Extension Agronomist, University of Kentucky
The weather is warm, the soil is warm, the redbuds are blooming... it seems like we should be planting corn! Some producers have sprayed their burndown herbicides, which is a good thing this season considering how large weeds could get. Some have finished applying anhydrous ammonia, which is good because soil conditions are good. Now that these major tasks are done, all that is left is to plant corn. The fields are ready, but the calendar is not.
Last season, the rains came in early and stayed late. Every farmer was pushed to get corn planted at all, let alone in a timely fashion. Late plantings, especially on soybeans did better than "early"plantings last year. The calendar says late plantings hurt yields. This spring, something internally says that everything else is ready, let's plant some corn! The fresh memory of the previous planting season says let's plant some corn! But, the calendar says not to plant corn, yet.
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| Young corn plant killed by freezing temperatures. |
Last season, the rains came in early and stayed late. Every farmer was pushed to get corn planted at all, let alone in a timely fashion. Late plantings, especially on soybeans did better than "early"plantings last year. The calendar says late plantings hurt yields. This spring, something internally says that everything else is ready, let's plant some corn! The fresh memory of the previous planting season says let's plant some corn! But, the calendar says not to plant corn, yet.
