Amy Shober, Extension Nutrient Management and Environmental Quality Specialist, ashober@udel.edu; Jarrod O. Miller, Extension Agronomist, jarrod@udel.edu; Phillip Sylvester, Kent County Extension Agent, phillip@udel.edu; Cory Whaley, Sussex County Extension Agent, whaley@udel.edu; and Richard Taylor, Retired Extension Agronomist.
With warmer temperatures finally here, you are probably in a hurry to plant. Don’t forget that the ideal planting dates for maximum corn yield are between April 20 and around May 10. Even with the cool start this spring, we are only a few days behind our ideal time frame for planting. Therefore, you should not be a rush to plant into saturated fields. Where you are tilling soil before planting either corn or soybeans, avoid tillage operations in the very wet areas of the field or in those fields that tend to stay wet longer in the growing season. Plant your better, well-drained fields first since these have a higher yield potential and can return higher profits to you. Your better, higher yielding fields are best planted during the April 20 to May 10 time frame to improve overall farm yield averages.
Rushing to plant into wet fields can cause compaction and rutting issues that can stick around for more than one season. Wheel traffic is a significant cause of soil compaction and has been correlated to both axle load and wet soils. When soils are saturated, the weight from equipment can cause compaction up to two feet deep. This kind of compaction will be hard to correct, so be sure to plan ahead and get into your well-drained fields first.
