Wet and cool weather impact spring planting across state

Derek Niese – Putnam County

The last couple of weeks have been cold and wet, and things have moved pretty slowly around here. Right now, we are just waiting on some heat and sunshine to get things growing again.

We are probably about half done with planting corn and soybeans at this point. Most of the corn that was planted has emerged, but it came up looking a little yellow and has mostly just been sitting there waiting for warmer weather. We also had some patchy frost a couple of weeks ago. We had a few soybean fields that had already emerged, but fortunately, it was a fairly light frost, and I do not think it caused much damage.

On the specialty crop side, we were originally scheduled to start planting tomatoes last Saturday, but conditions have simply been too cold and wet to get started. As soon as things dry up, though, we will be hammered down and moving quickly.

In the meantime, we have been busy working in our blackberry and raspberry patch. We are currently planting black raspberries that were ordered last fall and shipped in this spring. Once those plants arrive, they really need to get in the ground as soon as possible, so we have been trying to work whenever conditions are just dry enough.

Greg Ramsey – Ross County

We finally received some significant rain over the last couple of weeks, probably about 2 inches once everything was added together, and it significantly helped conditions here. We had some spots in the corn that were not coming up, but after digging and checking seedlings, it turned out the crop was just starting to germinate after we got some rain.

The cold weather that came along with the rain slowed things down some. A few soybean fields have been slow to pop out of the ground, and there was a stretch where we were wondering if we might have to do a little replant. We are not out of the woods yet, but I think things are looking pretty good right now.

We also had a real light frost at the end of last weekend, so there was some concern about the wheat crop, but so far, I have not seen any issues. We put fungicide on the wheat last week, and overall, things seem to be progressing well. Right now, we just need some heat and maybe a little more moisture.

The corn crop has really changed in the last few days. The corn has changed about four or five shades of green, and with some sunshine and heat, things are starting to look good.

Matt Hartong – Summit County

We still do not have any seed in the ground yet because it feels like we are getting rain about every three days. Instead of sitting around waiting for the weather to change, we decided to get out and mow some hay and also cut our triticale. Right now, all of that is lying on the ground, and we are hoping conditions improve enough this week that we can get it dried down and chopped.

The triticale has already been rained on a couple of different times, so we are planning to bale or harvest it as feed once we get an opportunity. The hay fields and triticale acres are all intended to go back into corn after first cutting, so we are trying to make progress where we can in between weather systems.

At this point, we are mainly just hoping for a stretch of weather that allows us to get in the field. The forecast still looks fairly cool, which is not ideal for drying conditions, but hopefully it at least gives us a chance to keep moving.

Right now, that is really the name of the game — waiting and seeing.

Melissa Clark – Miami County

Corn around our area is looking pretty good right now, with most fields sitting around the V2 stage. The bigger concern has really been the soybeans after the frost we received on May 3. Some fields were hit pretty hard, while others seem to have come through just fine, so right now we are trying to sort through what needs replanted and what can recover.

The weather over the last couple of weeks has not helped much either. We have picked up somewhere between 3 and 4 inches of rain, and between the wet conditions and the colder temperatures, we really have not been able to do much besides scout fields and evaluate damage.

One interesting thing we noticed was in some of our no-till fields. In areas where there was still corn fodder on the ground, it almost seemed to trap the cold air, and we actually saw more frost damage there in certain spots. That was surprising because normally you might expect the opposite.

Overall, though, we are still feeling fairly positive. It is early May, the corn looks good, and the soybean fields that need replanting can still be addressed in a timely manner. Hopefully, warmer temperatures are ahead, and the frost stays away from here on out.