Corn Looks “Amazingly Well” For Bad Planting Conditions

Trent Brandenburg said, “The corn looks amazingly well for the conditions it was planted in. He continued, “Beans are a different story. There aren’t any nice-looking bean fields because of the spotty germination.” Trent has 2-3% of his acreage yet to replant due to ponding, but only has a week to do it. “Otherwise, I’ll just let it go,” as not worth replanting so late.

Bean germination was so spotty that all the plants in a field will not mature at the same time, reducing the harvested yield. Trent thinks the USDA planting report was “way off” because he thinks the corn acreage will go up due to late planting, bean acreage switched to corn and the weak bean market. Trent notes a lot of “bean carryover” in storage due to slow sales of last year’s crop. It’s too early to tell if the lowered yields due to the spotty germination will raise bean prices at this year’s harvest. Meanwhile, Trent will scout his fields and mow his roadsides–in between rains.