I Am No Don Cherry, but?

A common question this week while we all stood and watched the clouds roll by has been "how does the early planted corn look?"

Here is what I wrote about corn planted on April 16, one month ago.

"Assuming this forecast is accurate (????), we can expect daily highs to approach 12 C and lows to approach 7 C. These temperatures contribute 5-6 heat units per day. By May 1 this corn will not be emerged because it takes 150 heat units to get seed out of the ground, but it will have accumulated 60 - 70 heat units toward its development. By May 7 these fields will be in the spike stage and I predict them to be excellent stands. If I am wrong I will let you know."

We all know that the more predictions you make, the better the odds are that you can claim to get one right.  I do not make many predictions because I don't want the same reputation our weather forecasters enjoy.  However, I have been keeping track of this corn planted 4 weeks ago. 

These were taken on May 7, when according to my bold prediction, the corn should be close to emerging.

Not even close to emerging, but still fighting.

Here are two shots taken yesterday.

My prediction back on April 16 is turning out to be mostly right.  It just took two weeks longer to happen than it should have.  I have heard other reports about the April corn starting to emerge.
The latest heat unit data supports why this corn is emerging.  April was a zero for heat and May has been just warm enough to gather the 150 heat units required.  The seed treatment has done its job and kept the seed viable.   

The other thing to keep in mind is even if we wanted to replant, it would be next week before it could happen.  An 80% stand planted on April 15, will easily out yield a 100% stand planted on May 23.

As for Don Cherry, how in the heck did he know Tyler Seguin was going to score for the Bruins?