Producers Blog

Cody Graham (DSM, Region 6 – Southern)

Be patient, we still have plenty of time. According to the USDA, this time last year the state of Kansas was 30% planted.  On the other hand, this year we are only 3% planted.  Temperature fluctuations, cool soil temperatures and, in some cases in eastern Kansas, overly saturated soils have caused our unpleasant delays in planting.  Once we get on our normal warming trend, planting will take off as it should have several weeks ago.  We should be able to get going hopefully as soon as the middle of this week, laying to rest the debate of whether or not we may need to shorten the maturity of hybrids currently in the shed.

The “we need to hurry up and get corn in the ground” statement I have been hearing from growers has me a little concerned for our plots.  Ultimately, the importance of our plot data is understood by our cooperators and dealers and I feel they will take the time to plant our plots to gain valuable knowledge of our new hybrids and trait packages.

Even though some areas in Northwest Kansas received 5-10 inches of snow last week and it was only 18 degrees for well over 9 hours, we are still very dry and have not been able to put a dent into our deficient moisture levels.  Our extended forecast does not look very promising either.  This has really affected the willingness of growers to plant dry land corn.  We are still waiting for warmer temperatures and better growing conditions so we can evaluate winter wheat possibly damaged due to winter kill we received last week.  If winter kill has set into some wheat acres, we could potentially gain some dry land acres if chemical applications will allow.

The ladies in the office have done a phenomenal job getting seed scheduled and shipped out into our dealers’ warehouses.  Most all seed has been delivered to our customers and is waiting on Mother Nature to cooperate.

Corn planting 2013 has just begun for some or is about ready to begin for others. Remember to please be patient, take your time and stay safe this planting season and, as always, thank you for choosing Producers Hybrids!