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Central Nebraska crops face some challenges

With the late start to the planting season in Nebraska, you might expect crop development to be running behind normal.  But Kevin Keller, an agronomist with Asgrow and DeKalb in central Nebraska, says that’s not the case with corn.

“When you look at the growing degree units that we have acquired, we’ve actually acquired enough to be a little bit ahead of average,” Keller says. “So really the corn crop, in a lot of situations, isn’t quite as far behind as we may think.”

But Keller says there are other concerns when it comes to corn.

“We just didn’t get the even stands this year,” he says. “It’s highly variable, especially if we look at reduced tillage systems out there. The other thing, too, is all the weather events we’ve had in the state.  We’ve got a lot of rain in certain areas, a lot of saturation—hail damage, some wind damage—and that also bring in opportunities for diseases.”

Keller says soybeans are starting to take off, but he thinks weed control may be an issue.

“We may battle getting canopy again this year just because of the late season—the lateness of the planting and the cooler conditions we had earlier,” Keller says.