April is ending with a little more than a spring shower! Plenty of moisture to bring May flowers and hopefully some corn and soybeans! We were able to work in two weather windows and finished planting corn on April 26th. We hope for the last time! We began planting on the 14th, starting slowly but able to run for four days. Corn planted in that window has emerged or is in the VE stage and looking good. We then had cold weather move in, dropping soil temperatures down into the high 30’s low 40’s. We chose to stop the planters for three days. You probably remember we talked about there being a couple days each spring you just shouldn’t plant. These felt like those days, but we will see! After a few showers, some warmer weather returned and we were able to finish corn in really good conditions three days before the heavy rains came. This is important because at 36 hours after planting the corn seed starts to imbibe or absorb water. If the first drink of water is too cold, it can cause hormonal changes in the plant making it very lethargic, slow growing, and not able to fight off disease.
We’ve also planted about 30% of our soybeans. The beans so far were planted in very good conditions. Soybeans seem to be able to handle temperature swings better than corn. Our first soybeans have also emerged and are looking healthy. Hopefully the weather will clear up this week and we can get back in and get another good run planting soybeans.
Below is a video taken by Carlile Ag from their drone of Randy and Mitchell planting last week:
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