I spent St. Patrick's Day 2012 on the beach in Grand Bend with my family. We played in the sand, ate ice cream and enjoyed the sunny 25C weather.
Just a little different this year! The corn seed is still waiting to be sorted, no planters have been dragged out yet, and the snow blowers are still ready to use.
Is this more normal spring weather a bad thing compared to last year?
The earliest corn I heard about for 2012 was planted March 20th in northern Huron county. It took a few hard frosts, lost some population due to cold emergence issues but in the end the yield reductions were not as large as I would have thought. Compared to April 12th planting, hybrid A at 198bus/ac lost 42 bus and hybrid B at 160bus/ac lost 73 bus. An interesting experiment for when the weather allows but it shows that mid April planting in the right conditions is the right choice.
In the same area, there were soys planted March 22, In yield, the reverse occurred. At 64.9 bus/ac the March planted soys were 2.4 bus better. Should we plant our soys before our corn? I don't think so but the results do show that you should be trying to get those soys in as early as possible. The larger the soybean plant by flowering (the end of June), the more potential yield.
One plus of this more normal spring is the snow cover and cold. Last years mild winter and early spring gave the advantage to the bugs in 2012. Hopefully, between the more normal weather and the cycle of damage causing insects and beneficial insects we should be in for a few less insecticide treated acres in 2013.
So, as this east wind blows and we expect another 5cm of snow and freezing rain today - relax - it's not April yet.
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