in-crop-weather

State
Indiana Crop Weather

Week Ending Date
June 3, 2001

Issue
IN-CW2201

Agricultural Summary 

Scattered showers slowed major field activities such as
spraying, side-dressing, planting soybeans and baling hay in
most areas of the state.  Cool, wet weather has slowed crop
growth and development.  Warm weather and sunshine are needed
to improve corn and soybean condition and color.   Spraying
for armyworms continued in some areas and replanting has been
necessary in scattered fields around the state.  Farmers
should continue to monitor fields for insects. 
						
Field Crops Report

There were 2.2 days suitable for fieldwork.  Corn condition
declined and is rated 64 percent good to excellent compared
with 82 percent last year at this time. Ninety-eight percent
of the soybean acreage is planted compared with 93 percent a
year ago and 75 percent for the average.  By area, 99 percent
of the soybean acreage is planted in the north, 99 percent in
the central regions and 93 percent in the south.  Ninety-five
percent of the intended soybean acreage has emerged compared
with 84 percent last year.  Soybean condition declined and is
rated 59 percent good to excellent compared with 67 percent
last year.  Other activities during the week included
spraying, applying anhydrous ammonia, cleaning and repairing
equipment, baling hay, chopping forage, mowing roads and
hauling manure.
               
All of the winter wheat has now headed compared with 86
percent for the average.  Winter wheat condition is rated 66
percent good to excellent compared with 80 percent a year ago
at this time.

Livestock, Pasture and Range Report

Pasture condition is rated 7 percent excellent, 42 percent
good, 26 percent fair, 16 percent poor and 9 percent very
poor.   Transplanting of tobacco is 48 percent complete
compared with 37 percent  for the average.  First cutting of
alfalfa hay is 47 percent complete compared with 51 percent
last year and 43 percent for the 5-year average.

                          
                  Crop Progress Table
---------------------------------------------------
                     : This : Last : Last : 5-Year
     Crop            : Week : Week : Year :  Avg
---------------------------------------------------
                          Percent
Soybeans Planted        98     96     93      75
Soybeans Emerged        95     88     84      NA
Winter Wheat Headed    100    100    100      86
Tobacco Plants Set      48     31     60      37
Alfalfa First Cutting   47     30     51      43

                    
                    Crop Condition Table
--------------------------------------------------------
                 : Very :      :      :      : Excel-
     Crop        : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : lent
--------------------------------------------------------
                          Percent
Corn                1       6     29     52      12
Soybeans            2       6     33     53       6
Pasture             9      16     26     42       7
Winter Wheat 2001   3       7     24     56      10

   Soil Moisture & Days Suitable For Fieldwork Table
-------------------------------------------------------
                   : This : Last : Last
                   : Week : Week : Year
-------------------------------------------------------
                       Percent
Topsoil
  Very Short          1       2      1
  Short               3       9      9
  Adequate           72      65     77
  Surplus            24      24     13
Subsoil
  Very Short          5       7      7
  Short              19      23     32
  Adequate           66      64     58
  Surplus            10       6      3
Days Suitable       2.2     1.7    3.7

Contact information
--Ralph W. Gann, State Statistician
--Bud Bever, Agricultural Statistician
  E-Mail Address: nass-in@nass.usda.gov
  http://www.nass.usda.gov/in/index.htm                     

Other Agricultural Comments And News

When Good Corn Fields Turn Bad 

-Some fields emerged unevenly.  Others emerged uniformly, but
 subsequently turned ugly. 
-The causes are usually below ground.  Typically, more than
 one cause is involved.
-Growing conditions greatly influence the situation.

Most corn growers will tell you that the maximum corn yield
potential of a hybrid exists while the seed is still in the
bag.  Once the seed is in the ground, the challenge is to
protect that yield potential from the many potential
stresses that await the developing crop.  This growing
season is doing its best to reinforce that belief.  

Around the state, folks are lamenting the fact that fields
of corn that had emerged uniformly and initially developed
uniformly are now fields that contain plants of uneven color
and size.  Other fields did not emerge uniformly to begin
with.  The recent spate of unusually cool temperatures and
(in some places) excessive rainfall has contributed to the
further development of fields that can only be labeled
as ugly.

Why worry about uneven stands of corn?  Simply put, it leads
to unfair competition among adjacent plants and, ultimately,
to a lower yield potential for the field.  Research from
Illinois and Wisconsin documented potential yield losses
ranging from 8 to 20% due to uneven emergence, depending on
the degree of delayed emergence timing and the extent to
which the field was affected.  Basically, if delayed
emergers are two leaves or greater behind the original
emergers, the delayed emergers will likely be barren at the
end of the year.  Yield losses to competition among plants
of similar age but varying degrees of health or vigor is
more difficult to document, but likely mimics that due to
uneven emergence.

What causes uneven emergence?  The three common causes  are 
a) uneven  soil  moisture  in  the  seed  furrow, b) uneven
seed to soil contact and c) uneven soil temperature in the
seed furrow.  The order in which I listed these causes is
probably the order of frequency in which they were 
responsible for uneven emergence in 2001.

I've seen more instances of delayed emergence due to soil
moisture problems this year than in many recent years.  In
some cases, the problem was related to a)uneven seeding
depth or b)uneven soil moisture at the selected seeding
depth.  In other cases, preplant tillage left a cloddy
seedbed, especially in the tillage tire tracks, and those
areas of the planted field had to wait for the recent
soaking rains before germination occurred.  It is not
uncommon to find fields with plant variability for growth
stage as great as four leaves, meaning that if the original
emergers are at the V6 stage of development, the delayed
emergers are at growth stage V2.
                                                            
What causes fields that emerged uniformly to later turn
ugly?  Almost invariably the cause lies below ground. 
Several weeks ago, I briefly reviewed how roots are supposed
to develop in corn (P&C Newsletter ,11 May).  In that
article, I emphasized the importance of maintaining the
health of the seed and the mesocotyl until the nodal root
system was successfully established.  As the nodal roots
develop, the importance of the seed reserves and the
mesocotyl (the 'pipeline' to those reserves) declines.

For all practical purposes, the time from planting to about
V4 to V6 can be labeled the 'critical stand establishment' 
period for corn.  If a field of corn successfully develops
to the V4 to V6 (four to six visible leaf collars) stages
with no damage to mesocotyls or seeds, chances are that
field will look very uniform.  If, however, mesocotyl or
seed damage occurs prior to substantial nodal root
development, seedlings will either die or be severely
stunted.

Consequently, a field that may have emerged uniformly and
initially  looked  quite  uniform  may  become  very  uneven
in appearance if initial seedling development has been
affected by one or more stresses.
                                                     
What stresses are we talking about?  The list of potential
stresses that can injure the seed, seed roots or mesocotyl
is not particularly long, but deciding which ones to blame
can be difficult since more than one is usually present in
any given field.  The list of possible offenders includes:
-Seed rot fungi          
-Seedling blight fungi                   
-Excessively wet soils (death by drowning)
-Excessively dry soils (death by desiccation)
-Anhydrous ammonia fertilizer 'burn '
-Wireworms
-Seedcorn maggots 
-Grubs of various types  
-Prying agronomists
-Starter fertilizer 'burn'

Other factors that influence the effects of these early
stresses include cool soils in general, sandblasting injury,
herbicide injury, excessively dry conditions and ponding. 
All of these weather-related stresses slow or hinder the
early growth of corn seedlings and make them more vulnerable
to the above list of stresses.  Similarly, while most
herbicides that can injure corn do not do so to such young
seedlings, later injury will subsequently hamper the
recovery of an already struggling crop.

Seed quality and the hybrid's inherent seedling vigor also
play an important role in determining the consequence of
injury during stand establishment.  Otherwise minor stresses
during stand establishment can have major effects on overall
plant health if seed quality is less than acceptable or if
seedling vigor is simply average.

So, what's a guy to do?  The bad news is that if stand 
establishment this year is crappy (an agronomic term meaning
uneven), there is little you can do about it now. As
you think about next year, there are a few things you can
keep in mind to minimize the future risk of crappy stands.  

-Create as little surface compaction as you possibly can
 prior to planting
-Avoid working wet ground and creating cloddy seedbeds
-Don't go hog-wild on earlier than normal planting. 
 Recognize that seed fungicide treatments only provide 10
 to 14 days of protection under "normal"  conditions
 (Illinois Pest & Crop Bulletin, 15 May 1998).
-Plant your best-vigor hybrids first.  (Requires home-work
 on your part)
-Plant your best quality seed lots first.  (Requires 
 home-work on your part)
-Plant your best-drained fields first.
-Consider planter-applied insecticide for protection
 against wireworm and seedcorn maggot if you are certain
 of their presence.
-If soil conditions are unusually dry at planting, aim for
 a seeding depth that maximizes soil moisture uniformity
 in the seed furrow.

A Final Comment.  Any time that germination, emergence
AND/OR stand establishment are delayed significantly, the
developing crop is simply exposed to a lengthier period of
stresses from the list above.  The consequence of such
stresses on a slowly developing crop is exactly the uneven
stands of corn that some corn growers are lamenting about
now.

Don't forget, this and other timely information about corn
can be viewed at the Chat 'n Chew Cafe on the World Wide Web
at <http://www.kingcorn.org/cafe>.  For other information
about corn, take a look at the Corn Growers'  Guidebook on
the World Wide Web at <http://www.kingcorn.org/>.

Bob Nielsen, Dept. of Agronomy, Purdue University.
 
  

                  Weather Information Table

     
               Week Ending Sunday June 3, 2001
---------------------------------------------------------------
                | Past Week Weather Summary Data   
                |---------------------------------
 Station        |      Air      |           | Avg  
                |  Temperature  |  Precip.  |4 in.  
                |---------------|-----------|Soil 
                |Hi |Lo |Avg|DFN|Total |Days|Temp 
-------------------------------------------------- 
Northwest (1)   |                                
Valparaiso_Ag   |67  41  55 -11   0.61     4     
Wanatah         |70  39  55 -10   1.22     4   60
Wheatfield      |72  42  56 -10   0.97     4     
Winamac         |72  43  55 -11   0.90     3   61
North Central(2)|                                
Logansport      |74  45  56 -11   1.07     5     
Plymouth        |69  40  55 -13   0.84     4     
South_Bend      |69  37  55 -10   1.42     4     
Young_America   |74  42  57 -10   1.16     4     
Northeast (3)   |                                
Bluffton        |73  45  57 -10   1.02     4   58
Fort_Wayne      |74  42  57 -10   1.15     4     
West Central (4)|                                
Crawfordsville  |78  43  58 -10   1.39     4   64
Perrysville     |77  46  58  -9   0.52     4   62
Terre_Haute_Ag  |79  40  59 -10   0.87     2   66
W_Lafayette_6NW |76  45  58  -9   0.73     4   60
Central (5)     |                                
Castleton       |75  46  59 -10   1.47     4     
Greenfield      |76  45  58  -9   0.52     4     
Greensburg      |75  41  59  -9   0.16     4     
Indianapolis_AP |76  44  59  -9   0.76     4     
Indianapolis_SE |75  44  57 -12   0.41     4     
Tipton_Ag       |74  45  56 -10   0.95     4   60
East Central (6)|                                
Farmland        |75  45  58  -8   0.36     4   56
New_Castle      |73  44  56 -11   0.96     4     
Southwest (7)   |                                
Dubois_Ag       |78  45  62  -6   0.20     4   67
Evansville      |79  48  65  -6   0.68     4     
Freelandville   |77  49  62  -7   0.92     2     
Shoals          |77  44  60  -8   0.21     3     
Vincennes_5NE   |77  47  61  -8   0.97     3   63
South Central(8)|                                
Bloomington     |75  46  60  -9   0.53     5     
Tell_City       |78  49  64  -6   0.05     2     
Southeast (9)   |                                
Scottsburg      |77  48  61  -8   0.55     4     
-------------------------------------------------------------     
-------------------------------------------------------------
                |        Accumulation           
                |      April 1, 2001 thru       
 Station        |        June 3, 2001  
                |---------------------------------
                |Precipitation|  GDD Base 50oF   
                |-------------|-------------------
                | Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN  
-------------------------------------------------------------
Northwest (1)   |
Valparaiso_Ag   |  8.32  +0.09  35   595  +133
Wanatah         |  8.03  +0.22  36   578  +165
Wheatfield      |  7.86  +0.25  37   633  +193
Winamac         |  9.11  +1.51  34   647  +158
North Central(2)|
Logansport      |  8.74  +1.15  35   621  +135
Plymouth        |  7.65  -0.40  35   563   +50
South_Bend      |  8.82  +1.41  33   613  +173
Young_America   |  7.28  -0.31  30   697  +211
Northeast (3)   |
Bluffton        |  9.19  +1.48  34   644  +142
Fort_Wayne      |  7.27  +0.10  36   634  +169
West Central (4)|
Crawfordsville  |  6.44  -2.02  30   656   +85
Perrysville     |  4.96  -3.37  30   756  +218
Terre_Haute_Ag  | 10.30  +1.57  28   843  +243
W_Lafayette_6NW |  6.43  -1.53  29   720  +228
Central (5)     |
Castleton       |  9.49  +1.00  29   735  +168
Greenfield      |  7.46  -1.19  29   731  +191
Greensburg      |  8.44  -0.81  26   794  +246
Indianapolis_AP |  6.52  -1.54  24   812  +223
Indianapolis_SE |  6.10  -2.39  23   707  +140
Tipton_Ag       |  7.57  -0.51  26   621  +168
East Central (6)|
Farmland        |  9.41  +1.65  29   638  +201
New_Castle      | 11.07  +2.17  31   560  +110
Southwest (7)   |
Dubois_Ag       |  5.45  -4.00  23   883  +255
Evansville      |  5.56  -3.60  24   994  +234
Freelandville   |  5.53  -3.80  24   879  +246
Shoals          |  5.70  -4.11  23   816  +207
Vincennes_5NE   |  4.28  -5.05  20   913  +280
South Central(8)|
Bloomington     |  5.81  -3.24  28   826  +207
Tell_City       |  4.38  -5.64  16   959  +253
Southeast (9)   |
Scottsburg      |  7.36  -1.67  26   861  +226
-------------------------------------------------------------
DFN = Departure From Normal (Using 1961-90 Normals Period).
GDD = Growing Degree Days.
Precipitation (rain or melted snow/ice) in inches.
Precipitation Days = Days with precipitation of 0.01 inch or
more.
Air Temperatures in Degrees Fahrenheit. 

Copyright 2001:  AWIS, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

   The above weather information is provided by AWIS, Inc.
 For detailed ag weather forecasts and data visit the AWIS
                       home page at
     www.awis.com or call toll free at 1-888-798-9955.