What happens next?

The product evaluation lead for Rob-See-Co encourages growers to get out and look at their fields as they emerge.

“This is a perfect time to get an idea of the potential yield you might have and also just double check that you didn’t have any planter problems when you were out there,” explained Lance Goettsch.

Those farther north may have experienced frost issues a couple of weeks ago and should look for damage to soybeans. As long as the growing point is pushing up, you should be alright. When it comes to making a replant decision, be sure to examine the entire field.

“Some people think they may have to replant the entire field but many times that isn’t the case,” added Goettsch.

A case of frost or drowned-out area will most likely not impact an entire field. Goettsch does expect quite a bit of replanting in the low-lying areas due to all of the recent rain.

“Make sure you do some plant stands after it dries out a little and also check on anything that hasn’t emerged to see if you have any soil crusting.”

Whether to use a rotary hoe to break a crust or let Mother Nature do its work with rainfall can be a tough call. A dry period after all of the rain may mean getting the rotary hoes back out. If you go that route, make sure you are running fast across the field to keep the implement high up and not too deep to damage plants.

Goettsch also suggests closely monitoring the nitrogen on your corn crop. Quite a bit of nitrogen can be lost through leaching on sandy soils and via denitrification on heavier soils.

“On the fertility side, definitely consider nitrogen losses here and other soluble nutrients like sulfur just to make sure you give that crop the best chance to make the highest yields this season,” said Goettsch.

The website www.robseeco.com has a number of resources for growers such as an agronomy page with tips on taking stand counts and evaluating fields this spring.