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Channel Field Check Up
KaYLISSA HALTER
EFFINGHAM, ILL.
In farming it is often heard, “You reap what you sow.” In reality, it’s not just what you sow, but also how well you sow it. Now is the perfect time to evaluate your early-planted fields and make adjustments to help achieve a successful crop in 2014.
Evaluating Spacing
• One of the best times to evaluate corn stands is within a week of emergence. Doubles and missing plants are easy to see, but it is important to look for consistency. A few considerations: Doubles produce a smaller ear, but when combined may produce similar or equal to the ear size that one plant would produce.
• Missing plants or gaps are of more concern. When investigating gaps, dig around to find the seed. Was the gap caused by a planter skip, germination failure, disease or insects, or due to soil crusting?
Even Emergence
Consistency of plant emergence greatly affects yield potential. Late-emerging plants compete with earlier-emerging plants for valuable nutrients, water and sunlight; yet will add less to the final yield.
Some of the causes of uneven emergence are:
• Inconsistent planter depth due to planting speed
• Poor planter down pressure
• Less-than-ideal planting conditions
• Poor seed-to-soil contact
It is important to dig around late-emerging plants to determine the planting depth and conditions compared to earlier-emerged plants to identify the cause of the problem.
General Planting Guidelines
Always refer to the manufacturer’s manual before performing any maintenance.
• As field conditions change, down pressure should be adjusted. Automated systems run by air or hydraulics for downward and upward control can make this much easier to manage.
• Planting in ideal conditions can reduce the likelihood of seedling diseases and compaction problems.
• Row cleaners showed be properly adjusted to move heavy residue and large soil clods to help provide adequate seed-to-soil contact.
As seedlings begin to emerge, your planting report card is returned rather quickly, and in consultation with your Channel® Seedsman, you can evaluate how well you “sowed” this year.
http://www.channel.com/agronomics/Pages/Evaluating-Corn-Stands.aspx .
Individual Results May Vary. Channel® and the Arrow Design® and Seedsmanship At Work® are registered trademarks of Channel Bio, LLC. ©2014 Monsanto Company.∆
KAYLISSA HALTER: Channel Agronomist
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