Happy Friday! This warm, humid weather we’ve had over the last few days has our corn growing like a weed. Fortunately the cool weather expected for tonight and over the weekend is short-lived and crops in our area will be just fine.
May 28, 2021 Update:
Soybeans (35 days)
First up, we’ll talk about the soybeans. As you can see in the photo above, the beans are getting bigger. We’ve been a little concerned we may have some insect problems because of the cover crop, but regular scouting has told us (so far) that we may be in the clear. We’ll continue watching the beans closely over the next week or two to make sure that there are no problems that show up. Since the beans are so small, any insect damage can really impact the plant so we have to catch it early to protect the plants, but as they get bigger, they’ll be able to withstand some insect damage and will be at less risk.
There’s still a lot of cover crop residue in the field. If you recall from the first update, we planted the field into a green, living cover crop, then killed it to allow the beans to grow without competition. The cover crop residue is providing important cover to suppress weeds and will continue to release nutrients into the ground as the residue decomposes.
And here’s a final soybean photo with the plant showing off it’s very first set of trifoliate leaves as it works to put out it’s next set and enter the next growth stage.
Corn (31 days)
The corn has been LOVING this weather lately. Lots of heat, a little bit of rain each day over the last couple days, a fresh shot of nitrogen – it’s really living its best life right now.
The corn has grown so much this past week that you can tell what crop is growing in the field as you drive by now!
So you might be able to make out lines in the ground in the last two photos. This is from the sidedressing that happened in this field late last weekend. Sidedressing is a term used for a method of adding nutrients to a crop after it’s already been planted and is actively growing in the field. We drive a tractor between the rows (being very careful because running over corn can kill the plant) and pull a tank and a bar (type of implement) through the field. This implement injects a liquid in the ground that contains nitrogen – 28% nitrogen by volume to be exact. The other 72% of the liquid is water.
Nitrogen can be applied in the fall, applied in the spring before planting, or applied after planting. We opt to apply most of the nitrogen the corn needs for the season at this time of the season because we feel that we can get away with using a little less nitrogen because the corn is ready to use it and it won’t be sitting in the ground waiting for long. We also have the manpower and time to get it done after planting before the corn gets too big, which is important when considering this application method.
The corn is really going to green up over the next week or two as the roots find the nitrogen!
The corn is also starting to look, well, like corn. See the classic wavy leaf edges in the photos above and below?
Now we hurry up and wait for the crops to grow.