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Expect the unexpected on prevent plant acres

An agronomist anticipates some unique challenges for farmers who took prevented planting this year.

Mike Schultz covers Minnesota and South Dakota for NK Seed.

“There will be a lot of things that we might not have seen before in all our years working in agriculture, just how crops react differently to some of these environments.”

He tells Brownfield one potentially glaring issue will be weed control.

“We can do a fairly good job controlling weeds in corn right now, but going to soybeans on prevent plant is going to be a tougher beast if weeds weren’t managed properly this season. So growers are going to have a very tough decision when it comes to what trait package to select and (what) soybean varieties.”

Schultz says growers will also need to be cognizant of pests that might be residing in cover crops used on prevent plant acres.