Seed Corn, Better Planted Or In The Bag?

It was a little over a week ago that soil conditions were dry enough for tillage and planting corn. With the forecast of rain last Saturday and really low temperatures earlier this week, it made you wonder if you should. Some planted as much corn as possible, others didn't plant any. Then some of us planted a little bit just to get started. Last Saturday the average soil temperature at the 2-inch depth was 64 degrees. Corn needs a soil temperature of 50 degrees to germinate and develop. By Wednesday, the soil temperature at the 2-inch depth was 38 degrees. Today it is back to 51 degrees.

Over the years, plant breeders have bred and selected corn hybrids for cold tolerance. That means corn hybrids today have much better cold tolerance than even 10 years ago. However there was concern about "cold shocking" the seed. After you plant corn, if the first moisture that is absorbed by the seed is really cold it can affect germination. Most agronomists think the corn planted by last Saturday should be all right because it did not get really cold until Monday night. We will know for sure in a couple weeks when the corn emerges.