Slow planting and emergence progress for corn
For the week starting May 22, temperatures were 6 to 8 degrees below normal across the state. Rain over the past month has presented challenges to corn planting for farmers in Kansas. Several areas received large quantities of rain from April 15 to May 25. Muddy fields are common now in many areas of the state.
Corn planting status across the entire state is 70% as of May 22 (Fig. 2, upper panel), with close to 50% of all corn emerged (Fig. 2, lower panel). The crop reporting districts of Northwest and West Central are the ones where the most progress is still needed on planting corn.
Effect of delayed planting on corn yield
With soils continuing to be very wet in parts of Kansas, more questions have been coming in about the effect of delayed planting on corn yield. A series of studies at K-State looking at delayed corn planting was conducted a few years ago (Fig. 1).
Three hybrid maturities were tested: 100-, 108-, and 112-day. Over the two years and three locations (Belleville, Manhattan, and Hutchinson), there were three distinct growing season environments (as related to the environmental stress):
Low Stress – where rainfall was favorable during the entire growing season
Early Stress – where cool temperatures and wet conditions limited early corn growth,
followed by favorable growing conditions
High Stress -- where conditions (rainfall and temperatures) were favorable early in the season, but the mid-summer was hot and dry