We are still very early, but if crop stands are a concern…

Source: Osler Ortez, Laura Lindsey, Alexander Lindsey

We are still early, but if you planted in April or the first few days of May, soil conditions have been wet and cold in many parts of the state. Early plantings, cold air/soil temperatures, and precipitation cause slow progress in corn and soybean.  Corn and soybean plants slowly emerge from the ground under wet soil conditions.

One of the downsides of planting early is the risk of seeds sitting too long in the field. Seed damage (biotic or abiotic) can lead to reduced stands in planted fields. Factors to consider are imbibitional chilling, frost damage, seed treatment duration/viability, insect/disease damage, soil crusting, and standing water. These factors (or combinations) can negatively affect seedling vigor, plant growth, crop establishment, ultimately reducing crop stands. If reduced stands are a concern, a potential solution is to replant fieldsHowever, we are still early to make accurate assessments of crop stands.

Our 101 recommendation now is to wait… Crop stands should be assessed after ‘stable’ and ‘better’ conditions are achieved (e.g., warmer temperatures, adequate soil moisture conditions):

  • For corn, past work has shown that 50% emergence can be expected following accumulation of 150 soil GDDs (base of 50°F) from planting, about 5-7 days under normal conditions (much longer under cold/wet as areas of Ohio have been).
  • For soybean, assess the stands no earlier than the VC growth stage. Visual stand assessment at the VE growth stage often underestimates the number of plants that will emerge.

Figure 2.

Often, hasty decisions are not the best. When replanting decisions on early planted acres are made, one should be careful about getting more plants than necessary in the field. In the following picture (Figure 2), the first set of soybeans was planted early and took a long time to emerge from the ground. So, a replanting decision was made (replanted at an angle). Once the weather conditions turned better, the first planting and replanting came up, in which case the replant was unnecessary. We suggest caution when replanting decisions are made.

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