We were able to make use of great weather on the week of April 27th and finished corn planting on the 29th. We rolled right into planting beans on the 30th and were able to get a large portion of our beans in that week yet. Rain held up finishing beans until a narrow window on Thursday. We were able to finish up beans before the rain rolled in again that night. Since then we, have received about 2.5-3″ of rain. Thankfully the rains have been spread out enough that there has been very little runoff or ponding. The soil has soaked it up nicely, and tile lines have begun to run again. The corn has all come up nicely with the recent warmth, and the beans we planted at the beginning of the month are all just poking through. Our crops look to be off to great and timely start, and we are glad to have them in the ground with this extended rainy spell.

On another note, the significant recent rains and the forecast for more pose challenges for nitrogen management this year. We are glad that we have opted to delay more of our nitrogen program to later in the season than we ever have before. These spring rains not only may prove to be a challenge to timely sidedress application with a traditional applicator, but also cause concern for the nitrate loss.  Delayed application reduces the risk of loss and also should allow us to have a better idea for how much nitrogen the crop needs.  We have been monitoring nitrate levels with our new 360 SoilScan and will continue to gather info to get the most accurate picture possible of the remaining nitrogen needed as the corn approaches waist-high, at which point we plan to begin to sidedress the final balance of nitrogen using our new 360 Y-Drop system on our high-clearance sprayer. Hopefully, this approach will allow us to be more efficient with our nitrogen usage this year.