PRST STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID OMAHA, NE PERMIT NO. 36
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Volume VI, Issue 6
June 2013
Enough is enough, for now
Heavy May rains delay planting by Greg Forbes Persistent rains through May pushed fields in Iowa from slightly thirsty to waterlogged. While concerns of dry soil remained at the beginning of April, a statewide average of almost 9 inches of rain in May alleviated drought conditions but saturated soils along with continuing rainfall have complicated spring planting. Clarke McGrath, an Iowa State University Extension (ISU) field agronomist stationed in west central Iowa, stated more than 90 percent of corn acres have been planted and expects the last 10 percent to remain without corn. Soybeans, which are 50 percent planted in McGrath’s area, will likely occupy the remaining amount of acres intended for corn. Mark Licht, ISU field agronomist stationed in central Iowa, likewise said 90 percent of corn and 50 percent of soybeans have been planted. In areas of northwest Iowa, ISU Extension field agronomist Joel DeJong said more than 95 percent of corn had been planted. However, just 50 percent of soybean plants are in the ground.
Paul Kassel, ISU extension field agronomist who serves counties in north central Iowa, said all corn has been planted in some parts of his area, but as much as 20 percent of corn acres remain unplanted in the east. Kassel added that if corn has not been planted yet, it faces as much as a 30 percent yield loss. As rain continues, farmers must wait to drop the final seeds in the ground but the more they are forced to stay out of the fields, the more yield potential drops. “As wet soils are, it takes more than a day or two of drying to get us out there, so when it rains every day or couple days, the soil stays saturated,” McGrath stated. “This makes it tough to get any planting or spraying done on the few nice days wedged in between storms.” Licht added, “The majority of the soils are at full capacity. This makes getting further corn and soybean planting hard to accomplish even with small amounts of rain.” Aside from planting prevention, heavy precipitation has potentially affected corn already in the ground.
“We have ponds and saturated soils where stands are drastically cut back that could potentially warrant a replant,” Licht said. “But at this point, some stand(s) may yield better than replanting this late.” DeJong said fields planted near the Missouri River and other rivers and streams heavily damaged by flood waters as a result of nearly a foot of rain over a two day period in late May. “You hate to turn down any rain but a lot of it came so fast that we had a lot of runoff,” DeJong said. “It was nice to have some of it but I wish it would’ve stopped at a lower level because we’ve seen a lot of damage.” McGrath stated that continued rainfall may cause erosion, which could displace seed but the more present risks of overly saturated soils are diseases and corn nitrogen loss. “Diseases love wet weather and stressed crops. We’ll be watching for those as the season progresses,” he said. PLANTING, Page 3A