(AgWeb) – As of April 20, USDA estimates 6% of the U.S. corn crop is planted, which compares to a five-year average 14% by this time. Unfortunately, the weather forecast doesn’t look favorable for planting conditions in the coming week.
Severe thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes are a possibility from April 26-29 across a broad area stretching from the central and southern Plains into parts of the Midwest, Mid-South, and Southeast, according to USDA’s agricultural weather highlights.
Storm-total rainfall could reach 2 to 4 inches in much of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Valleys. In the storm’s wake, unusually cold air may result in multiple freezes in the northern Corn Belt and across the nation’s mid-section and the central High Plains.
The National Weather Service 6- to 10-day outlook for April 30 – May 4 calls for below-normal temperatures across the eastern two-thirds of the nation, while warmer-than-normal weather will prevail in the West. Meanwhile, below-normal rainfall across most of the western and central U.S. will contrast with wetter-than-normal conditions along the Atlantic Seaboard and from the Ohio Valley into the Northeast.
“We are getting delayed now when we should have extremely good progress in planting,” says Jerry Gulke, president of The Gulke Group. “We are now being delayed in the Midwest where we plant 25% to 35% a week without a problem.”
Yet, the markets don’t appear to be too nervous. After last year’s late start and high yields, Gulke says, the market isn’t convinced farmers won’t hit the replay button for this year. “There is a sense of complacency in the market, which is probably good,” he says. “The market is telling us, at $5, they aren’t real worried about corn acres and believe the corn will get planted eventually.”
Gulke says there’s the old adage that the farmer likes to plant corn. “When he gets on that planter and the sun is shining, he may plant more corn than he thought he was going to plant,” he says. “I don’t think that’s the case this year,” he says. “Last year high crop insurance guarantees. I don’t think you’re going to get the guys in northern Minnesota and the Dakotas to plant corn late when they already have bins full of last year’s late-planted grain.”
Another factor to keep corn acres in check is strong November soybean prices. “Even though the market may not believe it, we won’t turn back to the corn acres like we have before,” he says. “We will keep this market nervous through May and see if we can catch up in our planting.”
“The twins outyielded the 30″ rows by 1 bu.,” Bauer says. “On average, there was not a huge difference between the row spacings. This was a year when we closed canopy better than 2012. The twin rows were close enough together to just edge out the 30″ rows. Most of the time, it’s advantageous to get the canopy closed as early in the season as possible.”
As a general rule of thumb, the quicker the rows close, the faster you can take full advantage of the sunlight, Bauer adds.
When farmers weigh row spacing decisions, many try to plant corn and soybeans with the same planter.
“Consider equipment costs and environmental factors,” Bauer encourages. “If you are in an area with potential for white mold, be respectful of that detail and take it into consideration when making a decision.”
Take Action Before White Mold Strikes
This is the second year Bauer has planted test plots to learn more about control measures for white mold. White mold outbreaks are common in her area in the eastern Corn Belt, which
includes southern Michigan, northern Indiana and northern Ohio. Cool, moist conditions are favorable for the disease to thrive.
“Infection happens at flowering, but once the plants are infected there is no corrective measure,” Bauer says. “The primary controls for white mold are preventative measures.”
Variety selection, row spacing, weed control, crop rotation and fungicides are all used to help control the pest.
To learn more about applications that can help suppress white mold, Bauer set aside test plots that included a range of commercially available products. The treatments varied with combinations and single applications of the following:
Contans from Sipcam Advan is a soil-applied preventative fungicide that controls Sclerotinia diseases. Contans was applied preplant at 1 lb. per acre and incorporated using tillage or irrigation.
Domark from Valent is a broad-spectrum fungicide, which was applied at 5 oz. per acre at R1.
Cobra from Valent is a herbicide that was applied at 8 oz. per acre at the late V stage.
Approach fungicide from DuPont was applied at 9 oz. per acre at R2.
The first test plot location, which was irrigated, had heavy white mold in spots.
“Under irrigation, it seems like we got a fuller plant, which made it harder to control white mold,” Bauer says.
As much as 60% of the plants were infested in the hot spot areas. The Contans treatment had 30% infected; Contans plus Domark had 25% infection; Domark had 30% infection; Cobra plus Domark had 10% infection; and Approach had 40% infection.
“You could tell by looking at the beans, there was less white mold in the Cobra plus Domark treatments,” Bauer says. “The Cobra shortened the soybeans and the plants visually had less white mold incidence.”
The second location was not irrigated and also had reduced levels of white mold. While there was only 5% infection at this site, the applications cut the infection to almost 0%.
Bauer is encouraged by the results of the test plots to help farmers prevent white mold.
