Published March 10, 2008 | By admin
Recent late Feb. 2008 Article Explains
As the spring planting season approaches all of us, we hope to get our crops in the ground as early as possible to take advantage of everyday sun and heat units to mature the corn, soybeans, sunflowers, dry edibles, cotton and so on and set a high potential yield.
In the Northern tier states, growers know that early planted corn can provide the better yields. Madeline Fisher at the University of Wisconsin wrote very recently (2/27/08) some factual information that may interest you who plan on getting that seed in as quick as the soil allows. She writes recent clues from Dr. Chris Kucharik, University of Wisconsin-Madison. “His hypothesis turns out to be true — in part. In Iowa, for example, earlier planting dates and longer growing seasons have potentially contributed 53 percent of the statewide yield gains over the past 30 years, Kucharik found. In Wisconsin, that number is 22 percent, and it ranges between 19 to 31 percent in other northern states.”
This and other noteworthy information is in an article written on the University of Wisconsin website: www.news.wisc.edu/14821
With tillage management mentioned in the article, we at Orthman realize a ready-to-go seedbed prepared by a strip-till tool the seedbed can be 2 to 7 degrees warmer which can assist in starting that seedling off. Read what she has to say.