Corn planting this spring continues to be well behind last year thanks to the unseasonably late snow and continual moisture. However, after last year it's hard to complain about the spring showers. As of now 43% of this year’s corn crop is in the ground compared to last year’s average of 89%. Thankfully due to technology advances farmers are able to plant more acres at a faster pace, so don't fret yet about getting the seeds in the ground. Corn planting was active during the early part of the week until a mid week rain slowed progress leaving only 4.7 days considered suitable for planting. Precipitation continues to be 25-50 percent above normal, and average temperatures were again lower than normal with lows below freezing in some areas. Hopefully as the spring progresses we will start to see more normal temperatures.
Soil temperatures as of Sunday were 55 degrees and higher throughout the state. These will continue to rise as the average daily temperatures increase. Statewide topsoil moisture levels rated 39% very short or short while subsoil moisture rated 82% very short or short. So despite the showers we are still running low on soil moisture and fighting to recover from last year. As of this week we have 2% of planted corn emerged which is well behind last year’s 52%.
Here are some photos from this last week that were sent in by FFA chapters around the state. More photos are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/necornboard/sets/72157633436384370/
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| This field was scheduled to be planted by now, but because of unseasonably cold weather and the precipitation, it will have to wait a few more days. |
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| You can see some weeds are starting to emerge in this photo. A pre-emergence herbicide is set to be applied as well as fertilizer. |
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