Producers Blog
2012 vs. 2013
Ryan Stelter (DSM, Region 2 – Minnesota)
2013 has certainly been an interesting year to say the least, but we are off and running here in Southwest Minnesota. With a slightly late planting time frame, we still managed to get all of our crops in the ground here. We have had an excellent start to the growing season, and crops around this area are looking fantastic!
With the side-dressing complete, corn fields sprayed, many customers around here have started (or in some cases finished) spraying their soybeans. While out visiting with customers the common theme that comes up is the weather. “ How far behind last year are we?” “We were tasselling last year right after the 4th of July!”…etc. I did a little research to see where we actually stand this year as compared to average and last year. The historical heat units for SW MN on July 8this 1064. This year we are sitting at 990. So comparatively, we are only 3 summer days behind average. The majority of the corn was planted here around May 20th, and at that point, we had only accumulated 187 heat units(less than what it takes for corn to emerge).
2012 was a different story! July 8th, 2012 had registered heat unit accumulation of 1239. This puts us 249 heat units behind last year. But, it is way too early to hit the panic button and start ordering propane by the tanker load. The thing most people tend to forget is we harvested dry corn approximately 3-4 weeks ahead of normal harvest time last year.
We are less than a month away from the start of the Farm Shows! Farm Fest will be held August 6-8, just outside of Redwood Falls, MN. Whatever farm show you will be attending, please stop by and visit with your Producers Hybrids DSM about our exciting new lineup of products that we will have to offer for 2014. And YES – in SW Minnesota, we still have a chance to harvest dry corn during a normal harvest time frame this year!
