Category: In the Spring

The little seeds who couldn’t

So it is one of the major decisions farmers need to make, the difficult decision to replant. Due to the hardness of the topsoil after the heavy rains, a crust developed over much of the field that was discussed in the previous post. In addition, the seeds planted in areas with little tile mixed with the cold and damp weather that continued for a week or so after planting the field around April 26-27, didn’t stand a chance.

After some thorough scouting, we decided to replant around 50 acres of the field. It isn’t the most pleasant job to do because you are tearing out some very good plants while preparing the soil bed for new seeds, but we had to weigh the pros and cons. The seed companies pay for 50% of the seed for a replant and crop insurance assists with 45% of the cost. You still end up losing money with labor, but replanting is done in hopes of a better yield, and depending on ones marketing skills, could make up for any losses and may in the end seem like it was never replanted. We are hopeful for that outcome.

There once was a little corn plant who could

We planted one of our largest fields of corn a few weeks ago, trying to get it in before the rain started. Little did we know that it was going to rain every other day for 2 weeks with some very heavy rain and hail at times. So we were concerned about the emergence of that field and the evenness throughout. When the heavy rain came, it created a stream of water in parts of the field, washing away some very important topsoil and seeds in parts.

I went out to view the damage with our agronomist last week and the stand looked good for the most part. New plants were starting to emerge and eventually will even out. Time is what he suggested vs. replant. I agree. Today we went out again to survey the emergence and do more stand counts. More and more plants are starting to emerge where old corn stalks washed over the field and where the stream of water was heaviest. I am very hopeful and with a little more time, I think we will see those strong little plants emerge where much of the damage was done.

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