Looking ahead

So if you are like me you are getting burned out on winter meetings and you are looking ahead to spring.  You may be thinking about how early you can plant corn.  When people would ask my dad when he plants corn, his response was "when the ground gets dry enough".  Yeah but what if that is the last week of March.  First thing is that last year nitrogen was applied right before planting.  If you followed my advice and did not put on any nitrogen in the fall then you have that to do.

So April 1 rolls around and the nitrogen is on and the ground is dry.  Then what?  Soil temperature is 34 degrees Fahrenheit.  That is cold.  Corn will not germinate.  Yes you are taking a bit of a chance planting that early, but we have seen corn planted on March 29 that yielded well.  Did it yield as well as corn planted on April 15?  Probably not.  If you are the nervous type, it may require nerves of steel to wait the potential 3 weeks to see if the corn is going to emerge and have an acceptable stand.  On the other hand, we know the advantages of early planting vs June planting.  Modern crop protectants do seem to help. 

We think that cold soil is not a problem as much as cold then warm then cold again.  If you can get the seed to pop, it seems that the corn can stay in the ground for a while. 

Would I plant corn in cold but dry ground on April 1.  Yes, with my fingers crossed.