April Planting Decisions
By: Mike Toohill, AgVenture WSC
Although Mother Nature is often in “charge” of when the planters can “roll”, I thought I’d share some of my thoughts/experiences on April planting decisions if we get an open window this month.
My HIGHEST YIELD corn planting window for the I-States and northern Missouri:
I like mid-April through about May 7th. Over the years, I like this planting window because pollination often “beats” the mid-July heat, corn planted in this window is better able to utilize maximum sunlight intensity/duration and the corn also has a better chance to finish in tough disease years (Southern Rust and Tar Spot for example). Below is what needs to happen in order to have the best opportunity to maximize corn yield in the fall with a mid-April to early May window:
Although many agronomists want corn to emerge in 7-days or less (most common with later May planting dates), 10-to-14-day emergence is good enough for me in mid-April through early May.
No heavy rains before emergence.
No extreme soil temperature drops from planting to emergence.
Ideally, I want my corn up by Mother’s Day with a uniform 95%+ stand, I want silks out by July 4th and the field naturally mature by Labor Day.
My HIGHEST YIELD soybean planting window for the I-States and northern Missouri:
I like April 10th through about April 20th. I like this planting window mainly because more reproduction occurs during maximum sunlight intensity/duration compared to later April and May planted beans. It could be the good July rains and the lack of August moisture, but early to mid-maturity varieties have been the early planted “winners” in recent years. Waiting until after April 10th has also minimized frost/freeze risk in my experiences.
What “type” of fields are best suited for early soybean planting? I like BLACKER (soil type/color and lack of residue) well drained fields. These fields are less likely to have frost/freeze damage and also come up faster with better stands.
If you only have one planter and a mid-April window opens up, what do you plant? Your farm and your decisions, but the yield data says plant soybeans until April 25th. After April 25th, the data “flips” to planting corn.
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