Northwest Iowa — It’s about time to plant corn. But conditions could be better.
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Agronomist Joel De Jong says Thursday morning’s soil temperatures were pretty cold. He says that according to Chris Klumpp, a technical agronomist with Ag Partners LLC in Hartley, the Hartley soil temperatures were 35 degrees at a depth of two inches and 36 degrees at a depth of four inches, with an air temperature of 29 degrees.
He says that’s pretty cold for corn.
He says soil temperatures this low mean that the seedlings don’t do much growing, and the stress induced could reduce stands. He says it’s especially a problem if the seeds are planted right before a cold rain.
Plus, De Jong says the weather has not been on the farmers’ side as far as good planting conditions. He says it’s been both cold and wet. He says, unfortunately, the immediate forecast doesn’t look like it will be much better. The National Weather Service says high temperatures are only forecast to be in the 30’s to maybe the low 50’s at best until at least Tuesday when things should warm up just a little. Plus it’s going to be fairly wet, with chances for rain and even snow from Saturday night through midday Monday. He says if it does warm up by the middle of next week, he predicts a lot of corn being planted then.
