Managing for Profit

‘Things that can go wrong’ to prevent crop emergence

There are many factors that can keep a crop from breaking ground, including everything from low temperature to disease to herbicide injury.

“There can be a lot of different things that can go wrong,” said Stephanie Porter, agronomist at Burrus Seeds.  So much time and money are invested in planting that failure before emergence is heartbreaking.

Growers often talk about the soil temperature as a critical gauge for getting the planter in the field.  One must also pay attention to air temperature, according to Porter.  Another issue preventing emergence is compaction, or the crusting of soil.

“It’s huge, actually,” said Porter.  In Illinois, “the amount of no-till soybeans has gone down.”

A huge rain after tillage can result in soybean emergence coming into question.

AUDIO: Stephanie Porter (3 min. MP3)