Ag Partners Agronomic Insights
Week of April 29, 2024
Local, professional reports straight from the field, from all regions serviced by Ag Partners.
Meet this week’s featured agronomists:
 Easton Schuch Le Sueur |
 Tanner Borgschatz Goodhue |
 Tye Anderson Lewiston |
 Chace Kinneman Ellsworth |
WEST
Belle Plaine – Le Center – Le Sueur – Morristown
After the past couple rainfalls and with more on the way, our soils are sitting plenty saturated going into this planting season. This is something we haven’t been able to say in a couple of years, for a vast majority of us. As a refresher, since we haven’t had to deal with this in a while, we should all remember the importance of waiting for the ground to be fit before planting into it. Waiting that extra day for ground to dry out could be the difference between mudding it in and dealing with sidewall compaction versus having that nice mellow seed bed for the plant to thrive in. Planting into overly saturated soils also leads into the possibility of more disease as well. Whether you are someone who will be just starting to plant or someone who will be hopefully finishing up corn this next stretch of nice weather, let’s all have a safe Spring!
– Easton
EAST
Goodhue – Lake City – Pine Island – Kenyon
The early spring we thought we were going to get from the lack of snowfall this winter sure seemed to have other plans this week. The chart below shows the historical corn planting progress of our AYS East territory (East of I-35 to Mississippi River). In the Goodhue area it seems that corn planting is about 70% completed or more, which is earlier than 5 of the last 9 years. In comparison to 2017, which was our highest corn yielding year on average, we were only about 20% planted at this time. Our optimal planting window says that we can still expect 95%+ of maximum yield through next week. This shows that we don’t need to rush in the remaining acres before the ground is fit, once mother nature decides to stop raining. Planting in wet conditions can cause significant yield loss and compaction issues. – Tanner
SOUTH
Elgin – Lewiston – Stewartville
The abundance of rain in the last week is welcomed throughout the Lewiston geography, with most areas totaling around two inches. We are off to a great start and I just want to remind everyone that it is the beginning of May and not the beginning of June. We are not at the point where we need to mud anything in.
Wet soils compact very easily when planting and is the biggest contributor to sidewall compaction. Furrow openers will smear and compact the side of the furrow especially if there is too much down pressure. When this happens, the soil on the sidewall does not fall around the seed. This can result in the lack of seed to soil contact, negatively impacting emergence and root growth. The easiest way to prevent sidewall compaction is to wait for the right conditions to plant. Wishing everyone a safe remainder of spring. – Tye
WISCONSIN
Ellsworth
It’s a little sloppy out there for now, but check out this field update! – Chace
