Parson, Kansas —
The 2010 growing season has gotten off to a challenging and slow start. As of May 18, the average temperature for the month of May was four-six° F below normal and as would be expected, growing degree day (GDD) accumulation has also lagged behind normal. GDDs are a useful tool for monitoring plant development and are often used by agronomists to specifically monitor corn development. From May 1 through May 19, west central Missouri had received only 150-180 GDDs, which represents an 80-100 GDD shortfall for this time span.
In other words, 95 GDDs are typically received per week in the month of May; however for May 2010, only an approximate 60 GDDs have been received per week.
On average, 100-120 GDDs are required from planting to corn emergence. From emergence to the 10-leaf (V10) stage, a new leaf will appear every 82 GDDs. With only 150-180 GDDs received since May 1, corn planted on May 1 will be at the one-leaf (V1) growth stage on May 19.
Typically however, with a May 1 planting date, corn should be at the two (V2) to three-leaf (V3) growth stage.
The low temperatures and resulting slow accumulation of GDDs has significantly delayed the corn crop.
University of Missouri research has demonstrated that an April 20 planting date will achieve 100 percent of its yield potential.
If planting is delayed to May 5, 95 percent of the corn yield potential will be obtained.
As planting date is delayed past May 5, corn yield continues to decrease. From May 1 to June 1, MU research indicates a 25 percent yield loss due to planting date alone.
With the cool temperatures we’ve experienced this spring, a planting date of May 1 is likened to a May 8 planting date in normal years.
For the 2010 season, it appears that only those growers who planted their corn before mid-April are positioned to obtain 100 percent of the crop’s yield potential.
With that said however, weather conditions during pollination can greatly affect yield response to planting date.
Crops
Cool temperatures delaying corn development
- Crops
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Dealing with soybean seedling diseases
Soybean seedling diseases can and do occur every year in Missouri. The likelihood of these diseases showing up in fields increases when temperatures are moderate and soils are saturated at planting time.
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Crop operating expenses up in ‘12
The cost of growing crops in Arkansas this year has risen 4.5 percent to 6.5 percent over last year, depending crop, according to research by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
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Spotted knapweed thriving in Missouri
It has been 10 years since spotted knapweed was first identified in southwest Missouri. The first three or four years after being noticed it didn’t seem to be spreading But in the past few years, this noxious weed has shown up in increasing amounts in new places around southwest Missouri.
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Dry conditions add to wheat stress in western, central Kan.
Wheat is under stress in much of western Kansas south of I-70 and west of Pratt and Great Bend. Wheat fields could use at least one last good rain before harvest.
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Report says markets plead for soybeans
Much has happened since early March that could sway farmers to take advantage of an increasing market for soybeans and plant more of the crop. Last week USDA reproted that soybean supplies relative to use could be at their lowest since 1965 after the 2012-13 cropping year
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Early hay cutting offers some consolation in wake of 2011 drought
The early cutting is a blessing in an area where last year’s drought turned pastures to tinder and forced many producers on scorched farms in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas to sell cattle they could no longer feed.
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Armyworms on the march in SW Missouri
University of Missouri Extension agronomy specialists have been closely monitoring true armyworm activity in various crops in Missouri this year. This comes after reports of significant damage to forages and crops in northern Arkansas.
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Researchers continue battling soybean pest
University of Missouri plant pathologist Melissa Mitchum and colleagues at Iowa State University and North Carolina State University recently received a $466,000 grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to continue their research on protecting soybeans from nematode parasites.
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Determining the cost of hay equipment
The greening of pastures and warming temperatures have triggered ruminant livestock owners to start thinking about the upcoming haying season
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Natural predators at work on aphids in Kansas wheat
Early April brought more than warm weather to Kansas farms. Aphid populations increased around the state due to immigration of the insects from the south and local reproduction.
- More Crops Headlines
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Dealing with soybean seedling diseases
