We finally were able to start planting this week. It’s been four days, so I don’t even remember what the startup issues were. I do remember it wasn’t fun trying to start both planters on the same day. It was 7 p.m. before I got to the second one, to get it rolling.

The debate all week has be what to do with this cold front coming through tonight and tomorrow (Friday and Saturday). The ground is fit for planting but the weather forecast is not. Another layer of complexity is added when you look ahead to rain one week out. The last couple of days, Weathertrends360 has called for nearly four inches of rain next week. This morning it’s only calling for 2.25 inches.

Memories of 2019 weigh heavy on producer’s minds.

So, what did we do? We went after the biggest acres earlier in the week. We figured those seeds would have a chance to germinate and get started before this cold snap.

Last night our decision was to more or less suspend corn planting Thursday evening. This gives us 24 hours before the 28-degree temperatures. We will likely plant a comparison plot today. Since we will have a difficult time sitting still, we may plant a 40-acre field that has a lower production history.

If we are impacted by the cold, I’d rather give up 10-15% on a 150 bpa field than a 250-bpa field. Regardless, both planters will have to be in the shop tonight. The pop-up formulations we use are mostly water based. We don’t need any freezing or breakage!

Soybean planting will continue

Soybeans are tougher. Uniform emergence hasn’t yet been proven as critical in soybeans as it is in corn. Speaking of which, after some initial frustrations during startup (which required a manufacturer service call), the dry fertilizer system (see blog for details) has been working pretty well on the soybean planter.

With virtually no GDU’s this week (and through the first half of next), it makes it as though everything has been planted on the same day. That adds risk that a drought or heat event could impact crops later this year.

The only mitigation we have for that right now is planting different maturities of crops. Usually when planting is happening, GDU’s are being racked up, which helps spread out the crop maturity as you go.