Special episode: Early 2023 planting and agronomy updates
Good day, this is Dave Nicolai from the University of Minnesota. This is the first installment of Agronomy Update from the University of Minnesota Agronomy Department. We have as our guests here today for this podcast Doctor. Seth Nave and Doctor. Jeff Coulter from the University of Minnesota Agronomy Department.
Dave Nicolai:We want to start off by talking a little bit about our current conditions here in the state of Minnesota, A little bit about the weather and also talk about what farmers can expect in terms of planting opportunities going forward with the month of May. The latest crop report for ending April 23 came out recently and indicated that we didn't make a lot of progress in terms of planting and particularly with a crop on corn. We were very limited at 1%. There were some oats planted in the state of Minnesota but that was around 5%. But more importantly, I think the impact on terms of planting will be quite dramatic for a lot of growers because we were at 33% surplus in terms of topsoil moisture and 59% adequate.
Dave Nicolai:Thus leading you know to a lot of farming operations where tractors and planters sat up on the yard ready to go, but didn't have that opportunity to be out in the field with that. And with that of course, we're looking at our weather forecast. We're talking about rain this week in terms of still coming in off and on showers. And I think a lot of those showers are going to be looking at situations that'll put us out of the field until the early part of next week. The good news is that it does look like we'll have an opportunity to get back in the field and 50s and 60s with that.
Dave Nicolai:And Jeff, know that you've been looking at the weather forecast here and particularly when it comes to corn. You might have some considerations and recommendations to get things going and get things started and also maybe talk a little bit about the calendar. Are are we in effect too late and are we going to take a yield decrease by getting in here past the May 1?
Jeff Coulter:Yeah, thanks Dave. Yeah, a lot of things to consider this year. You know, one of the things we think about often is soil temperature and for corn, there is risk of invibitional chilling injury if the soil temperature drops to around 40 degrees or less within one to two days after planting and those seeds imbibe cold water. Right now, the, daily minimum soil temperature in Southern Minnesota is still down to the upper thirties or so, and the daily maximum is in the forties to pushing 50 degrees. The next seven days for the weather doesn't look real favorable for warming the soil up, but at the same time, it does look like there is some chance of rain.
Jeff Coulter:So I think based on all of that, I think what's going to come what the decisions are going to kind of come down to is, is the soil fit for planting rather than soil temperature? I think once the soils dry out enough, the soil temp will be trending upwards and won't be such a big factor. So I think soil moisture is the big factor right now. We don't want to get out there and do tillage, seed bed preparation, or planting when the soils are too wet. What we need is we need good seed to soil contact.
Jeff Coulter:Corn seeds need to imbibe 30% of their weight moisture before germination can begin. And to have uniform emergence, we want all those seeds to imbibe that moisture rapidly and quickly and at the same time. And to do that, we want to have good seed soil contact. So we want to avoid having like air pockets. And air pockets can happen in the soil when we do tillage when it's too wet and we get all these little clods.
Jeff Coulter:So instead of getting seed soil contact, we get seed clod contact with a lot of air space in the soil, and that's not ideal. Also, if we're planting when it's too wet, we can have sidewall compaction causing a compacted layer around the seed. So that's problematic. A general guideline I tend to tell farmers is think about what depth of tillage you're going to be doing for your pre plant tillage. Then, I like to have that soil able to crumble, to a depth of one inch deeper than what you would be doing tillage.
Jeff Coulter:So you're going to be doing tillage at four inches, you'd want that top five inches of soil to be able to crumble and not ball up on you when you roll it in your hands. With regards to planting date, you know, it is we look at the calendar and it's trending later. People are getting concerned. And we've done quite a bit of, planting date trials here across Minnesota, mainly in Southern And Central Minnesota, but also a few up in the North. And, across, 26 planting date trials that we did between 2009 and 2016, on average across those trials, we found that, corn grain yield was 99 to 100% of maximum when the planting date occurred between April 25 and May 12.
Jeff Coulter:So, and that that's on average. But I would say that, you know, this is not an average year where the spring is just late to arrive. We look at the trees, they're not really budding out much yet. So I think that optimum planting window could even be, pushed a little bit later. And also when we look on our chart averaged across these 26 trials, planting between May 13 and May 19, the average yield was 97 to 98% of the maximum.
Jeff Coulter:So this year, you know, obviously we want to get that corn in as soon as possible, but if we're pushing mid May and we're still planting corn, I still think it has a full yield potential or close to it. There's so many other factors that are much more important than planting date for corn. Like, you know, the two weeks before the tassels come out and about three weeks after the tassels come out. The weather during that period is really what determines the crop yield. So I think the key is just to avoid getting out there too early with the with the tillage and make sure the soils are fit and be as timely as we can and we should be good to go.
Dave Nicolai:Great advice, Jeff. Let's turn it over to Seth and talk a little bit about soybeans here in terms of situation. Obviously with corn, know, with the calendar we have a good opportunity here to make good decisions and not to rush things. What about on the soybean side in situations here in Minnesota?
Seth Naeve:Well, if I could take a little bit of control here and back up to this corn question. I I think we we missed an opportunity to discuss some some of the things that may have happened and, you know, if there was 1% of the corn planted, but what does that corn look like today, Jeff? So those people that did were able to get into plant last week, there was some corn went in, not very much. You know, part of the question about planting now is kind of that old adage, is it better in the bag or better in the field? And you're really you're really urging farmers to wait until they have really good conditions.
Seth Naeve:Now clearly, those that got in last week may have had some decent conditions at planting time. But we've had really cold soils, 40 degrees or less soil temperatures for up to a week. What do you think about some of that corn that may have gone in maybe a full week ago now? And it's probably not gonna have any 50 degrees soil temperatures until maybe today, Tuesday of this week. So what do you think the prognosis is for those those that corn that did get planted early?
Jeff Coulter:Yeah. Thanks, Seth. Yeah. The corn that has been planted, most likely likely has been planted into good soil conditions. It's got that going on for it.
Jeff Coulter:Unfortunately, the soil temp has not been ideal, so there could be some issues with some impervitional chilling injury or just delayed poor emergence in general. But I think that I think what we'll see this year for those fields is that it's going to be hybrid specific. So there's going to be some of these fields that are going to look just fine. And there may be, you know, one or two hybrids out there that, may just be struggling and they may need to be replanted. So I would say keep an eye on those fields that have been planted and, be in touch with your agronomists about what they're seeing.
Jeff Coulter:If we dig up the seeds right now, we'll probably see a little root started and a little shoot started. If that, I would say in general, most of that corn should be fine, but, this is a prolonged cold wet period. We may see the stands reduced a little bit, but the good news is, is that corn can actually produce near maximum yield with like a final stand of around 30,000 plants per acre. So, you know, many farmers are planting 35,000 seeds per acre or so. And you know, so if we lose a few plants, we're still at near maximum yield potential.
Jeff Coulter:So I wouldn't worry too much, but keep an eye on those fields and just move forward the best we can.
Seth Naeve:Yeah, those farmers are probably nervous. I don't think we probably need to urge them to get out and look at their stands. Probably, if they planted last week, they probably been out every other day digging some plants. But it probably would behoove them to get around the field a little bit and get on their gator and go to the other end of the field and look at conditions throughout an emergence to make sure that they've got that corn that they planted looks relatively uniform. I think your point is really good about population, but we also want to make sure that those farmers don't have a five or 10 acres in the corner somewhere where they don't have anything, right?
Seth Naeve:So doing a good job of scouting now before they have a chance to plant maybe a good time to get out here in the next few days before they get back out in the field.
Dave Nicolai:We should say that primarily a lot of those planted corn acres were in Southeastern Minnesota and if we look across the state, we still have to make those decisions and I think that's good information even if we plan into colder than normal temperatures this coming week which a lot of South Central And Western Minnesota and for certain you know we get Northwestern Minnesota where we still have snow on the ground and in places so all good advice. So I'm gonna retake control though. I'm gonna go back into soybeans here a little bit in terms of that. You know a lot of our in the information when I was growing up Seth, this was you know back you know prehistoric times, but anyhow, we always wanted to get that corn in the ground and, you know, if we get around to the soybeans in the end of of May, well, that was a good thing. Where are we really at with today's varieties in terms of that and seed treatments?
Seth Naeve:Yeah, I mean, can definitely I think, you know, yield response on soybean is pretty significant for early planting. There's been a real big push, especially one my colleagues in a neighboring state has really been pushing for early soybeans, promoting this idea of planting soybeans before corn. I've taken a little bit different tact on that whole thing and basically tried to position it with farmers that it's kind of a question about risk management. Maybe there's opportunities that farmers could plant some acres of soybeans first, not to try to achieve greater yields or greater economic returns on those acres relative to corn, but maybe they could get into some acres that they weren't quite ready to plant corn on that were maybe just a little bit sketchy and they would consider maybe putting soybeans in. I think soybeans are going to be a little bit more tolerant of some tougher soil conditions.
Seth Naeve:We overseed soybeans so that we don't have to have the picket fence kind of stand in soybeans. So we can reduce our stands and even have some patchiness out there that won't hurt us as much. Replanting doesn't cost us as much in terms of the economics or a yield penalty side. So I think there is reason to consider planting soybeans before corn. And now we're in a situation where we're in a bit of potentially a delayed planting situation.
Seth Naeve:I think it really offers an opportunity for farmers to be creative and maybe get out there and plant soybeans before corn this year, especially in situations where we could potentially no till on top of some wetter conditions that we couldn't get in to do tillage. Maybe there was some fall tillage, but it leveled things out enough that we could get in and plant this spring without any spring tillage, for instance, on top of that. If we've got a lot of subsoil moisture where we can't get in and do a good job of field cultivating and finishing, maybe there's an opportunity to plant soybeans on top a day or two before we could plant corn. And that really is dependent on individual farmers and their operations and logistics. What kinds of ground do they run?
Seth Naeve:How close or far from their headquarters, their main farm they are? Whether they have multiple planters and tractors to use for corn and soybeans. But I think farmers are pretty creative with this. I don't think we need to urge them to think out of the box too much. But I really see an opportunity for a year like this where we are really talking about working days at this point because we're kind of on the calendar anyway, we need to be out there and going.
Seth Naeve:So this might be an opportunity to maybe really kind of push things a little bit more. And in my mind, I feel like for those farmers that are really concerned about putting corn in the ground that soybean for a few days or running another machine with soybeans might be an opportunity for them.
Dave Nicolai:I'm gonna put you on the spot. If in terms of individual field situation, what would make you pause in terms of planting soybeans now this next week in terms of either temperature, moisture condition, fitness and so forth. When would you not want to get out there and plant soybeans at this point in time? Is there anything that would restrict that planting window in terms of your thought? And if we are going to trend up a little bit here, why would you wait or where would you wait?
Seth Naeve:Well, I'm at the point now where I don't think that soil temperature is gonna be in I guess I personally wouldn't worry about soil temperature in soybean at this point because we've had good precipitation. I think by the time that farmers can get into the field, they are going It's going to be warm enough to plant soybeans. We might have more dips in soil temperature based on, you know, future forecasts. But honestly, we're at the point on the calendar we need to get things going. So I'm not concerned about soil moisture.
Seth Naeve:So what I'm Or soil temperature. What I'm thinking about is soil moisture. And basically, you know, we want to avoid mudding these things in. And so I am to the point now in some areas of the state where soil moisture is going to vary a lot throughout the field. I don't think we're to the point where farmers should start trying to farm around wet spots and fields.
Seth Naeve:But that is always a question that farmers are going to deal with. And honestly, with soybean, you have a little bit more opportunity to do that as well. So if you've got full fields where you've got 80%, 90% of that field could be planted, it might be an opportunity, especially if it's close to the home base, to go out and plant that area to soybeans with the idea that you can come back and plant that other area back in. Maybe once you get your corn planted, maybe that could be your first spot to get back into. So again, every farmer is going be different.
Seth Naeve:There's a lot of opportunities. But I think back to your very first question with this is what we want to avoid is just this pure mudding things in, running over with a field cultivator and making a lot of clods because the soils are too wet, Doing deep compaction because of these big tractors that are pulling field cultivators are going to cause us problems in those tracks. I think it's something we definitely want to avoid for sure. I think we know, it's the Hippocratic Oath here. It's do no harm first and then move forward.
Dave Nicolai:But Jeff, if you think about best management practices and sometimes we get the question about planting depth. Now we're going to have obviously in a lot of these fields, know, yeah, adequate moisture. Any other thoughts in terms of best management practices maybe on a field by field situation? Certainly, know, soil texture will make a difference, soil type, you know, Seth and I were out in McLeod County yesterday was a clearing nickel at Webster, know, hit in situation, but sometimes you get into a lighter ground. Any anything going forward here to help you make your decision on not only field choice, but you know, that timing a little bit more precise.
Jeff Coulter:Yeah, well, think soil conditions are going to be paramount and for planting depth, two inches in corn is kind of the standard planting depth. I wouldn't plant shallower than that. Sometimes on sandier soils, farmers tend to plant a little deeper just for soil moisture. A couple of years ago when we had that extremely dry spring, those farmers that planted two and a half inches deep rather than two inches, Many of them, had a little bit better stands just because the soil moisture was a little more uniform. You know, if you plant a half an inch deeper, it's going to take a couple more days for that crop to emerge.
Jeff Coulter:But you know, the moisture is going to be uniform and you're going to get a uniform stand if, soil moisture is more limiting at the shallower depth. In corn, it's pretty much two inches is the standard depth, but if it's dry, you know, to two and a half inches is no problem.
Dave Nicolai:You know, one of the other factors that may come into play here is people looking at the calendar and Seth, you and I talked about this earlier, that's in terms of weed control. We were with a farmer yesterday that was already thinking about changing this up a little bit, planting whether or not you do get your pre on and so forth. From a weed control perspective and my background, we don't wanna be all post emergence particularly when we think about some of these different harder control weeds, particularly like waterhemp and in situations. But nonetheless, it comes into play in terms of that. And I think a lot of people are gonna be looking at custom application to help them out because they're wanna keeping those planters, you know, rolling at this point in time.
Dave Nicolai:I didn't see a lot of obviously weeds coming up in the field yesterday when we were out and touring around a little bit and looking at some of our research plots in McLeod County, but certainly, you know, that's another factor.
Seth Naeve:Yeah, I think, you know, I think we've always recommend that farmers do the best that they can to, you know, come up with a plan to begin with. But we know that things have to adjust on the fly and farmers are going to have to make some changes on the go. And I do think that this year is probably shaping up to be one of those years that they are going to have to adjust a little bit. We definitely want to avoid getting ourselves in a box where we don't do any kind of a pre and we plan on a total post. And then we have continued rains after planting that keep us out from doing those.
Seth Naeve:I mean, is that can be the worst case for us here. So, I mean, farmers just are gonna have to manage their own risk. I'm all about planting early. I'm all about hitting this thing hard and getting that that crop in. But we also have to manage the risk at some point.
Seth Naeve:If if we're planning to push everything off on weed control until after planting, that can really set us up for some problems later.
Dave Nicolai:Certainly on the PREs. Well, I think we're kind of getting to the end of our time here today. Jeff, any last thoughts here going forward from a corn perspective that you wanted to let the folks know about?
Jeff Coulter:Oh, I just like to follow-up on that pre emergence herbicide thing and that's really important for corn. Corn does not tolerate early season weed competition very well and weeds can take up a lot of nitrogen and water that corn would otherwise be using. So it's really important to try to utilize a pre emergence herbicide for corn if possible, especially if it gets wet later and you're unable to make multiple post applications that are timely.
Dave Nicolai:So I guess the bottom line is, know, you feel like there's no need to panic here given our applied research, what we've come up with in the past and some of these trials at Lamberton. We've got time, know, pause, make sure that the soil conditions, you know, etc. Are fit. Keeping those populations, I guess Seth, any other things to keep in mind here as we're going to be, you know, lot of these growers may be operating multiple planters in the field.
Seth Naeve:Well, brings up a good point. I guess I'm not a safety expert, but I just am kind of getting this feeling like with some rain in the forecast yet, I think we are going to be in a bit of a pinch and farmers are going to be really when things do open up, farmers can plant a lot of acres very quickly, which is great. But that does often mean long days and a lot of effort put forth for the farmers. And so I guess just from a safety standpoint, although we've got GPS and it really saves us a lot in terms of strain on the farmers, it does mean that we could potentially have a lot longer days. And so we have to just be careful on the road moving farm to farm.
Seth Naeve:Folks aren't going to be used to seeing tractors and these giant field cultivators going down the road. So we have to be really careful and be cognizant of that and so that they can everybody can stay safe.
Dave Nicolai:I think you brought up a good point when we talk about being able to farm that whole field and not have to go around, know, where a lot of these tiles or drainage is still going on and will continue to go on, you know, here in particularly in Western Minnesota, Northwestern Minnesota. You know, give it time obviously that. I know that Jeff mentioned, you know, having that soils a little bit of a grayish cast to it, you know, in terms of that and we were talking to a grower yesterday about that and you can certainly see the differences. So keep that in mind as we go forward here, we'll try to keep folks up to date with this in terms of agronomic information on a frequent basis. So thank you again Doctor.
Dave Nicolai:Seth Nave and Doctor. Jeff Coulter from the University of Minnesota Ground Extension. I'm Dave Nicolai. We appreciate your time and be safe out there.
