Stand establishment of corn and soybeans is the combined result of several things such as seed quality, planting standards, soil conditions at planting, and weather patterns 24-48 hours after planting. Evaluating stands involves determining two things: stand quantity (population) and stand quality (number of full ears at harvest compared to planting population).
As I have been out looking recently, I have seen some purpling of corn plants in the fields. Did you know some of this is natural and good? Some hybrids have a normal purpling to the leaves due to genetics, and as researchers, we take notes on this. We feel it is a good trait to see as some of the better hybrids genetically do this and the purpling disappears quickly with no damage to the plants.
Managing corn rootworm beetles can be done several different ways. Crop rotation is one way to interfere with the corn rootworm life cycle by using a corn/soybean rotation.
As I have been out looking at fields recently, I have seen a few things that you should keep top of mind this time of year.
As I have been traveling around in recent weeks, I have seen fields that have been planted for weeks with the seed sitting in cold, wet soils. Other fields I’ve seen are being planted just because it’s that time of year.
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