View from the Cab: Go time?

Now that St. Patrick’s Day has passed, it’s time to start thinking about putting beans in the ground. Huh?

If I would have mentioned this several years ago, you would have thought I was crazy. Maybe you still do. It may be hard to imagine with all of the cool damp days during our meteorological spring so far, but we need to have those planters ready.

Research by many in the industry has shown a benefit to planting soybeans early – but just how early? I recall hearing about studies last year where treated beans planted in March yielded better than those planted in late April. One farmer southeast of here even experimented with February-planted beans a couple of years ago.

This has many growers changing their game plans, focusing on soybeans before they even think about ripping open a bag of seed corn. New insurance coverage options are also allowing growers to plant beans sooner than they normally would.

This year could be the exception to planting beans early however due to what is turning into a wet early spring period. It’s not something we need to lose sleep over but if it is still this wet the first of April, we can likely expect delays from our traditional planting dates around here. I typically think of April 15 as a common target date but it was later than that last year and there were a few years when it was earlier.

We were lucky enough to finally receive mild temperatures last week but they were accompanied by strong winds and more rain. The outlook for the rest of March and into April shows a continued wet weather pattern. Many forecasters are saying May will be warm and dry. Only time will tell how this planting season will progress.

Thanks to everyone who came out to our Central Illinois Farm Network Ag Outlook Meeting in Fairbury last week co-sponsored by Prairie Central Cooperative and Bank of Pontiac. Our panelists, Merrill Crowley, Roy Plote and Shalene Reeves, had some interesting market viewpoints. Gig’s Place did a fine job as always serving up delicious homemade pizza to our guests.

(The View from the Cab blog is powered by Petersen Motors of Fairbury)