Well it still doesn’t feel like spring today yet, even though we switch the calendars over to May, very cold temperatures tonight, but no real rain events in the 10-day forecast.
I looked at my plot this morning, which has been in the ground 10 days now. The ground is still nice and mellow since we have only had a couple soft rains totaling up to just 0.5”. The corn is germinating nicely and is almost ready to emerge. A warm weekend may push it through. The beans are germinated and starting to push up. Both the corn and beans have a nice root on them. We have accumulated 90 GDU’s since planting and it takes about 115-120 GDU’s for corn emergence, so it is right on track.
If one of those rains had been harder, or heavier, it would probably tell a different story, similar to last year. We had emergence issues from a week of wet, cold weather after planting on April 14th.
It feels like there are as many or more acres of beans planted so far this spring as there is corn across my territory. Conditions and forecasts just didn’t seem right for corn planting. It is good to see the beans going in early, as this is a key factor in producing higher yields. Last year we had to replant some beans at the test plot on June 6th. The same variety just next to it planted on April 14th yielded 20 bushels better. Now I know 7 weeks is quite a stretch between planting dates, but it shows the difference time makes on the development of soybeans.
If you follow the old adage of “don’t plant your corn until the oak leaves are as big as a squirrel’s ear”, according to my oak trees it still isn’t time. I’m sure this and many other old sayings no longer apply with the hybrids, seed treatments, and drainage we have to work with now. But it is still interesting to see how mother nature still deals with some things. Here is a picture from this morning, showing that my oak trees are still in leaf bud. As I drive around it looks like some of the older oaks are starting to leaf out though.
One concern we still have with planting into cold soils is the stress on the emerging mesocotyl. Even if we don’t have the imbibitional chilling that happens to the seed in the first 24-48 hours, soil temperatures that drop down into the mid 40’s for an extended period of time can mess with the mesocotyl growth. It almost shows a corkscrew appearance like it didn’t know which way was up. This may appear more in years when we have wide fluctuations in temperatures during the day versus night or from one day to the next. Also, drier soils would have more fluctuation in temperatures as air changes temperature quicker than water.
It looks like our extended forecast is for mostly dry conditions, and maybe only one or two cold nights, so I am giving the green light on planting. I know farmers can plant a lot of acres in a short period of time with equipment nowadays, and a lot of tillage and field prep work was done in the last week to 10 days.
Here is this week’s Bayer Emergence Risk Report.
RainFall Totals
| wdt_ID | wdt_created_by | wdt_created_at | wdt_last_edited_by | wdt_last_edited_at | Month | Total | 30 Year Average | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | emilybailey | 04/02/2026 02:12 PM | emilybailey | 05/01/2026 01:20 PM | April (since the 21st) | 0.5" | 4.2" | |
| 2 | emilybailey | 04/02/2026 02:12 PM | emilybailey | 04/03/2026 07:28 AM | May | 4.8" | ||
| 3 | emilybailey | 04/02/2026 02:12 PM | emilybailey | 04/03/2026 07:30 AM | June | 6.3" | ||
| 4 | emilybailey | 04/02/2026 02:13 PM | emilybailey | 04/03/2026 07:30 AM | July | 4.7" | ||
| 5 | emilybailey | 04/02/2026 02:13 PM | emilybailey | 04/03/2026 07:30 AM | August | 4.5" | ||
Heat Units Accumulated
| wdt_ID | wdt_created_by | wdt_created_at | wdt_last_edited_by | wdt_last_edited_at | Plant Date | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | emilybailey | 04/02/2026 02:20 PM | emilybailey | 05/01/2026 01:19 PM | April 21st | 90 |
As always, reach out to me with any questions or concerns.
Bob Sobolik
641.330.1815
