Monitor corn emergence and evaluate replant decision. Listen to this weeks extension corner to get prepared and learn more.
Listen to this week’s KTIC Radio Extension Corner:
This is Dr. Nathan Mueller, your local agronomist with Nebraska Extension for Dodge and Washington counties. Not to unlike last year, some corn was planted right before a cold and wet period last week. Last year I visited some corn field with poor stands in May with growers where then had planted on April 16 through the 18th which was followed by cool and wet conditions on April 19 through the 21.
So will the same thing happen this year with fields planted Monday April 24 through Thursday, April 27? For sure you will need to plan on monitoring these fields planted as they emerge. Let’s discuss the steps in making a replant decision real quick today so you are prepared.
- First, in the field we need to determine the current plant population, length of in-row gaps and evaluate non-emerged plants for possibility of emergence. Don’t just assess the best and worst areas of the field, but get a good random sample across the field. I would suggest taking plant counts in 1/1,000 of an acre or 17 ft 5 inches of row length in 30 inch rows in 10 random locations across the field and determine the plant population in two adjacent rows in each of those 10 locations.
- Second we need to determine the yield potential of replanted corn versus our current corn plant population. I use the 2010 Iowa State University relative yield potential of corn by planting date and population table to do this. A link to this table can be found at our website at croptechcafe.org. By the time we let this corn emerge and assess the stand, we are looking at about 87% of maximum yield with replanting and getting a good stand if replanted shortly after May 15. If we have an average of 19,000 plants per acre with 2 foot gaps, we would expect roughly 85% of maximum yield. In this situation, it is unlikely there will be much of an advantage to replanting. I co-wrote a CropWatch article and produced a video with Market Journal last year on this topic that would be good to check out on our website at croptechcafe.org to learn more.
Please read this additional resource:
CropWatch Article: Should I Keep my Initial Corn Stand or Replant It
In most cases, you are often better off keeping your initial stand. If you plan to terminate your poor stand, remember to call your crop insurance agent and have an adjustor visit the field. To listen to this radio message again and to get more information, visit our local website at croptechcafe.org or give me a call at 727-2775. Know your crop, know your tech, know your bottom line. This is Dr. Nathan Mueller, your local agronomist for Nebraska Extension on KTIC radio.
Watch a video we produced last year on this potential issue:
