Overall, Lambton County is approximately 50% planted. Due to the rain delays, we are seeing many people switching from longer day corn to shorter day corn, or corn in general, to beans. We have ample supply of soybean seed to accommodate anyone's seed needs (both bulk and bags). There are very little soybeans in the ground at this point, with most areas needing 3-4 days without a rain (or a week if we get another rain), before farmers can try to hit the fields again to plant. The ground is now so saturated that it is struggling to dry up as quickly. Fertilizer moving out of the branches has been steady with the spotty rains (some areas are drier than others at different times), which means that spreader usage has been spread out, and spreader availability is good. Crop Insurance Planting Deadlines for our area is June 15th on corn, and June 30th on soybeans.
The biggest issue we are seeing right now is weed control. Some fields have not yet even been sprayed once, which means the weeds have had time to grow and establish. We are seeing a lot of large fleabane, giant ragweed and some water hemp. Chemicals will have a harder time bringing down weeds this year as a result. Residual programs will be much farther ahead this year, and our staff notes that those with GMO (roundup ready) soybeans should be prepared to spray the field 3 times. Our sales staff is encouraging growers to use at least 4 modes of action in their burndowns.
Corn fields that were planted on May 26th and 27th, were struggling with emergence issues. We were seeing those fields with uneven germination, likely due to a combination of "cold shock" temperatures, and too much rain too soon after planting. Typically, it is ideal if planted seeds have 24 hours without rain on them. This tends to help the seed have better vigor and more even emergence. That being said, recent rains did help with removing the crust and helping the seeds push through, while rotary hoeing also seemed to provide support to the corn's emergence. Since the latest rain, soybean emergence has been very solid.
In last week's poll, 43% of respondents said that they planted all their corn, 25% said that they planted some corn but were wanting to put more corn in, and 32% said that they hadn't started planting corn but they wanted to put corn in. For the soybean poll, 0% had finished planting beans, 57% had started planting beans but not yet finished, and 43% had not started planting beans yet. We know this time of year can be stressful, so we want to remind everyone that your own health is as important as having a healthy crop. There are many free resources available for those who are feeling overwhelmed, including the Farmer Wellness Initiative.
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