Planting Season Moving Haltingly Forward

Rainfall has been plentiful in some areas, and lacking in others. According to Dennis McCoy, Area Agronomist with Pioneer Hi-Bred International based in Winterville, North Carolina, producers in parts of the state have postponed planting for various reasons:

“I would like to mention about the rainfall and the soil moisture that we have throughout the area. Its really a wide variable. In the northeastern part of the state they have too much rainfall and a bit of crop damage from the excess water. On the other extreme, the southeastern part is too dry and hasn’t received rainfall of significance in the last three weeks. Many farmers have discontinued planting soybeans or sorghum or cotton because it is too dry. There are areas in between that have had sufficient moisture and are in pretty good shape.”
 

Corn was planted early this year, and McCoy says that all in all, it looks pretty good:

“We do have good corn stands this year. The stands are uniform; we do have some good early growth despite cool temperatures early and recent hot weather.”
 

McCoy explains that some corn has a yellow cast to it, but isn’t alarmed:

“Because of the rainfall and the temperatures, there are some farmers whose corn is growing off quickly and gives a bit of a yellow color to the field. It can appear to be concerning and look like a nutrient deficiency, but in reality with some detailed investigation, the new growth is coming out so quickly that its giving a yellow color to the crop.”
 

Dennis McCoy, Pioneer area agronomist. For more ‘In the Field’ reports from Pioneer, visit the Pioneer Page on our site.