There is a report circulating that a field of corn is in the spike stage somewhere in Ontario. In my opinion, this kind of talk is foolishness. If it is true and I expect it may be, the field must be in a highly protected, extremely unique environment that captures a lot of heat.
I repeat the cardinal rule. It takes 150 heat units to get corn to emerge. A daytime high of 30 degrees and a nighttime low of 10 degrees contributes 22 heat units. It takes a WEEK of high 20's and low teens to coax a corn seed out of the ground.
You would have to plant on March 16 this year to have a chance of accumulating 150 heat units in a typical open field.
A customer bought a new air seeder last fall and went out behind the shed during the warm week in March to make sure it would plant. He brought in some soybean seeds that have been in the ground since then.
This is reality. Soybeans are similar to corn in the amount of heat required to germinate. The seed has sprouted a root, but is a long way from emergence.
No comments:
Post a Comment