Scattered showers brought some much needed moisture to some parts of Indiana over the weekend. Brian Early, Pioneer agronomist in North Central Indiana, says weekend rains were scattered but, where they occurred, they were welcomed, “The Kokomo area saw the highest totals averaging about ½ inch to an inch in some places.” He added, as you move north, the rain totals decreased. Some areas in northeast Indiana received only 3/10 down to 1/10 of an inch of rain. He told HAT that the moisture was desperately needed, “We had a lot of corn in dry soil.”
Early said that about 20% of the corn has been planted in his area and that the moisture will help get that crop off to a good start, “This moisture will definitely help with germination, but more is needed.” He noted that some of the sandy soils that have been worked are very dry and will need more rain very soon. He expects planting activity to pick up this week and move above the half way point, “I expect we will see planting taking place in all areas of the north, and we could see 60% of the corn in this area planted by the end of this week.”
Some of the sandier soils in north central Indiana are still very dry, and Early says those growers may want to consider deeper planting, “We really need to see the corn planted into moisture, so some guys may have to go a little deeper to get that moisture.” He said, even if it takes 2.5 inches to get the seed into moisture, go ahead and plant that deep.
[audio:https://www.hoosieragtoday.com//wp-content/uploads//2012/04/Pioneer-agronomy-reprot-early.mp3|titles=Rains Bring Help, But More is Neede]The complete report with Brian Early is available on the Pioneer Agronomy page.