Corn Planting On Hold

The 2018 planting season has turned into a struggle for area farmers. Remember April 2018 was the coldest on record going back more than 100 years. We also set the record for the most snow. So, farmers were hoping May would bring nice warm weather and normal rainfall. We have seen some nice warm days but we have had frequent rains that has really slowed down corn planting in many areas.

Every since I can remember today, May 10th was the day farmers wanted to have their corn planted. The reason was research showed that yields began dropping if corn was planted after May 10. Planting date research done at the University of Minnesota showed for example that corn planted on May 15th would yield 5 percent less than if it was planted on May 5th. Corn planted on May 30th would yield 18 percent less.

However, the weather the rest of the growing season has a major impact on how the crop turns out even if the corn was planted late. Remember in 2017, much of the corn crop was planted between May 7th and May 14th. For many farmers 2017 turned out to be their best corn crop ever! So, we can still be confident and optimistic that we will get the corn planted and can have a good crop.