In Need of Rain

I think we are all in agreement we could use a shower.  The nitrogen and herbicides are needing to be incorporated, and some seeds need moisture as they are laying in dry soil or dry residue.  Ask and you shall receive, as it looks like a stormy weekend with some potentially heavy rain.

If you’ve been wondering, this has been the driest start to the month of May since as far back as official weather records go.  I ran this today, showing that April 29^th through May 14^th was the driest in 134 years.

Sandblasting

It’s no wonder we had dust storms across the Midwest recently.  I had heard there were some interstates closed in Illinois as the dust clouds were so bad.  A few fields around the area with little residue and some emerged corn show some sandblasting damage from the winds.  This should grow out fine, but it does open up the plant to some entry points for diseases.

Seeds in Dry Soil

As I mentioned above, there are some seeds laying in dry soil or residue.  No till beans seem to always have a few beans that end up this way, usually laying in residue that has been pinched down into the seed furrow.  Without aggressive row cleaners this can happen.  Luckily beans are able to compensate for the uneven emergence and come back from this, as long as we don’t go too long, like a month or so before they finally emerge.

Crust Development

I have had a few questionable fields of corn that were planted 3 weeks ago.  The soils were cooler, and we had some rain shortly after planting, which ended up with some hard soils and crusts.  Planting corn at least 24-48 hours ahead of a cool spring rain is key.  Our plot that was planted on April 21^st, and went until late on the 23^rd before a rain, has awesome emergence and a near perfect stand.  The corn plantings that happened on the 23^rd are the most questionable.  Last year we had similar issues with plantings that happened on April 17^th before rains the morning of April 18^th.

Planting corn into cold soils, especially if they get rained on and turn hard, can lead to corn that leafs out underground, or “corkscrews”.  The leaves open up from the coleoptile and can’t push through the surface.  Rotary hoeing may help, but unfortunately once you see the corn leafing out it is usually too late even for rotary hoes.  You need to break the crust, or open the ground as soon as you notice the coleoptile struggling, which if you have a crust, is usually enough of a sign.  A rain shower can also help to soften the ground or keep it slicker for the coleoptile to push through, but obviously we have been lacking that.

Waterhemp

I am seeing Waterhemp start to emerge in some spots, mainly field drives, or other high-pressure areas.  Waterhemp needs around 350 heat units to emerge, and if we go back to late winter, we have accumulated just over 400 total GDU’s as of today, so it is not surprising.  With some of our pre-emerge herbicides still not being activated, we will have to make sure our post pass has something effective in it to clean up this Waterhemp.

Finishing Up Pre-Emerge Applications

The guys should wrap up all the pre-emerge spraying today, and with a few wet days to start next week, they plan to switch the machines over to post spray tires, so when it dries out we can start on some fields if they are ready for their next applications.

RainFall Totals

Heat Units Accumulated

As always, reach out to me with any questions or concerns you have.

Bob Sobolik

641.330.1815