The Sun is Out!! So lets shed some light on the past Rainy days!

So after all the rain which has put the Province at a stand still for planting crops, I though I would try to focus on the positives.  We have approximately 60-70% of the intended corn ground      planted (in our area)...and most of those acres where planted in under a week!! So hats off to the farmers of Waterloo/Wellington County…you worked hard to get those corn acres planted! and hopefully the 2nd round of planting is around the corner, and is just as productive as the last!

  If you are concerned about having your corn in the ground with all the rain we have received I have a bit of good news for you! As long as you do not have corn under a lake of water, you are ok! corn has germinated and is moving along nicely as you can see in the pictures below.  Soil temperature is around 60*F and rising!! I am willing to bet that the corn planted in the 1st 2 weeks of May is all ready or will be out of the ground soon.

I planted my corn plot on May 11th and as you can see in the picture below it is well on it’s way.  It takes approximately 150 CHU’s to get the corn out of the ground, and according to our Bayer Weather Station located here at Rosendale Farms this field has accumulated 109 CHU’s with 185 CHU’s accumulated since May 1st.

Nitrogen & Wheat

I have been asked a lot of questions this spring regarding nitrogen application on wheat, so I thought I would address some on my blog.

Q: I applied my Nitrogen before all of the rain we have just recieved, have I lost all of that nitrogen due to leaching or denitrification??

A: Quick answer…NO,  unless you are on extremely sandy soils you will not loose a lot of nitrogen from leaching.  Peter Johnson was quoted in the OMAFRA Field Crop Report saying “Worst case scenario for N loss would be 10%, with a realistic loss  more  likely    2-3%”.  In fact I was in a field yesterday where nitrogen was applied around the head lands and the majority of the fields did not receive an application of N due to poor field conditions.  As you can see in the pictures below there is a visual difference between the two areas.

Q: I do not have my nitrogen applied in my Wheat field yet, am I losing yield because of this??

A: Quick answer…NO,   Peter Johnson addressed this concern in the Field Crop Report by stating that “Yield loss from late application of N does not occur until stem elongation, and even when delayed until second node (GS 32) yield loss is small.”    I would disagree with Johnson a little on second node having small yield losses  but none the less I believe the recommendation of getting the rest of your N on as soon as the field conditions are fit would be the suggestion across Ontario.

On a closing note, if you feel like we are the only ones not planting any corn, that is not the case!!  As you can see in the graph below corn planting in the states is well behind schedule,  this could make for some interesting corn prices moving forward.  Make sure to keep an eye on commodity prices during these times of uncertainty you could capitalize on a potential upward swing.  Don’t be afraid to sell a 1/4 of your projected  corn  crop  if you  haven’t  sold  any   yet,   our current bid for 2011 corn is $216/MT and if that is the lowest price you end up booking….that should be money in the bank!!!

You can check you cash bids at http://www.rosendalefarms.com/index.cfm?show=11&mid=3