Is it too cold to plant?

Chris: Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ag View Pitch in our crop series and crop update. Today we have with us Eric Zumbau, Pioneer agronomist in the Iowa City-Cedar Rapids, Iowa area. Is that, is that right, Eric?

Eric

Zumbach: Yeah, basically, yeah, Cedar Rapids-Iowa City corridor area, a little bit west.

Chris: Sounds good. Well, hey, uh, how's things going in your area? You know, we're heading into this new week here now of really cold conditions, nighttime lows getting down below freezing. It just seems like we can't get rid of winter here. How's things going in your area? Does anybody have anything in the ground as far as corn or soybeans?

Eric

Zumbach: As far as corn or soybeans, maybe a field here and there, but very little. You know, about a week ago here we had that rain, it was an all-day rain during Saturday, and that caught most of my area, so we end up 2+ inches of rain in some of my geography. So the western edge, not as much. So we're seeing a little more activity that way, but it's been a pretty, pretty quiet week really from a field work standpoint.

Chris: So what, uh, as far as, you know, looking now, I guess my, my starting question I guess is, is, you know, we're titling this Too Cold to Plant. Well, you know, so what makes you more comfortable if a guy is going to go out and plant and there's a lot of people scratching their head, should they be doing anything? But if a person's gonna go out and get a planter working and get something going, you find a really dry, good area and go with some corn, or do you go with some beans, or what's your thought from an agronomy standpoint?

Eric

Zumbach: Yeah, you know, really to me it comes down to basically 3 questions when we're thinking about heading out to the field. So first question is, is our soil fit? So, you know, as I look at my area here in this last week, we obviously had 2+ inches of rain. It's been really cool, so we haven't dried very much. But if you dig down a couple inches of soil and do that ribbon test, which just pinches the soil between your finger and thumb, and if you're creating a pretty good ribbon there, it tells you it's not fit. So I would use that both for corn and soybeans as our first indication everything's ready. So you can answer yes or no to that, we can move on to the second question. So that second question is, our soil temperature is 50 degrees. at that 3 to 4 inch level.

If I looked at in my area here around Cedar Rapids here just last Friday, or I guess Thursday, Friday, we were actually 7 degrees cooler in our soil temperatures than we were that week before. So our trend was that our soil temperatures were decreasing. And so obviously we put a stoplight on that and say, no, we better hold off. So, and then obviously you look at soil temperatures, high residue fields, north-facing slopes, you know, there's a lot of variabilities within that. So, so, you know, where do you feel like we're at on the soil temperatures, question number 2. And then really the third question is, is that forecast? So you just mentioned you're working with like a pretty cool forecast here, and really, you know, for soil temperatures or at least 60 degrees, that's 2-inch depth, really want to see a warming trend in that 3 to 5 day forecast. And right now we're kind of marginal.

I just looked at soil temperatures a little bit ago, we're about 49 degrees, so we're kind of hovering around 49, 50 degrees, but a 3 to 5 day forecast sure doesn't indicate a warming trend at this point. So you go through those scenarios there and say, geez, if we can get 2 of those 3 questions answered to say, hey, yes, it looks like it's favorable, then we could say, hey, let's go out, maybe try a field. So obviously, soil fit, yes or no. Soil temps in the 50s, we're kind of hovering around there. If we got some work ground, that warms quicker, so maybe that'd be a little more favorable in certain situations. And then, you know, look, the big thing to me is looking at that forecast. So we certainly, once we get to about Wednesday in our geography here on Cedar Rapids, we're gonna look like we're gonna turn the corner and looks like things are gonna warm up for us.

So yeah, those are kind of 3 questions we can ask ourselves and give us the green light in at least 2 or 3, 2 out of 3 of those, then sure, let's go out and give it a shot in a field.

Chris: Mm-hmm. I think in most operations we've had 2 out of 3. I don't think any of us have had 3 of those, you know, you know, right now this year anyway. I mean, unless a person was out there a couple weeks ago when it was, you know, we had that warm, warm spell at the end of March and across pretty much the whole Corn Belt where it was pretty nice for a while. And, um, that leads me to the next question. You know, a lot of, a lot of times, you know, and we've done it in our own operation, we've, we've, um, I don't know, we were 10 years ago, we, we were you know, toying around with planting beans early and got to a point a couple years ago even where we were planting the majority or maybe even all the beans before we even started on corn because it seemed like the soybeans tolerated these, you know, one of these two or maybe even two of these three conditions not being ideal.

The, the, the soil condition is the, the most severe one it seems like that we've experienced planting soybeans early is you know, if that, if that soil is kind of wet in that first drink of water, whether it's corn or soybeans, but it seemed like it kind of bothers soybeans as well if it's, if it's wet and cold. It seems like if it's dry and cold, they seem to tolerate that pretty good. What's your opinion, opinion there?

Eric

Zumbach: Yep, yeah, and that's exactly right. Actually, I, you know, the good thing about soybeans, I guess, from that standpoint, if you got some cooler dry soils, um, certainly I would say we maybe push that window a little bit earlier, you know, as far as that 50-degree mark. The big thing to keep in mind, and you mentioned that there too, is that kind of keep in mind that first drink of cold water that that seed is going to get, both corn and soybeans, is that a cold drink of water or is that a warm drink of water? You know, with soybeans, that cold drink of water is imbibed by that seed within the first 24 hours of planting. That can be pretty critical as far as seeing some chilling injury on soybeans. So, so given a few days, Yeah, I think we can. We got some guys that are planting beans and we certainly encourage that early on.

Just keep in mind, I guess, when we look at Tuesday into Wednesday and we're getting down to 27, 28 degrees, like, you know, boy, I'd probably hold up a little bit, you know, and get on the other side of that. So today, tomorrow, I think we'll see some guys putting some beans in. We get into Tuesday, Wednesday, I'd probably back up a little bit and just say, hey, let's wait on the other side of this because it looks like we're going to get the green light here about Thursday on temps turning around and moving forward. So, and even on corn too, really that first drink of water, you know, so the corn seedling takes in most of its water within the first 30 minutes that we put that seed in the ground. So again, you ask yourself, is that a cold drink or is that a warm drink of water? In that first 30 minutes, that's pretty critical.

So as we get closer to that Tuesday, Wednesday timeframe, certainly that's going to become a lot more critical because we're going to only have high temps 40, 44 degrees, low temps 27, 28 degrees. So I'm sure we're gonna have some guys planting here in the next day or two here, Saturday, Sunday, but we get out to Tuesday, Wednesday, you know, I'd really look at— let's not push the window too much there.

Chris: If you were—

Eric

Zumbach: we got a green light once we get the other side of the forecast.

Chris: So if you were 50% soybeans and 50% corn, would you be— would you be planting corn or beans or both?

Eric

Zumbach: Personally, I would probably— I'm a vet man, but I'd probably go a little more soybeans first. Okay. Just because corn is so critical. Obviously, when we think about corn, we always talk about getting that stand to emerge within— uniformly if we can, if the soils are warm, 7 days after planting, if conditions are real good and warm. But so we know that uniformity of that stand is extremely critical. And if we can get that stand up out of the ground uniformly, that's huge, you know. So we start getting cool soils, wet soils, we get a little bit of I guess there's snow in the forecast and rain, get a little bit of crusting, then all of a sudden we lose some of that vigor. We lose— get a little bit of that crusting and right away then we get concerned. Is that thing going to come up uniformly or not?

You know, so, or soybeans, there's enough in the ground, they can get more push to them in that row, I guess you would say it, as they're trying to push out of the ground. So, so yeah, I— we know, we all know we want to get going. I guess for me, I'm I would probably be okay doing corn first and wait until Wednesday, Thursday, I guess Thursday when it's going to turn around here.

Chris: Doing beans first, you mean?

Eric

Zumbach: Yeah, yeah, doing some beans here and then holding off on the corn here to about Thursday. It looks like we get Wednesday out of the way, looks like we're going to be in that warming trend, so I feel more comfortable knowing we're getting some corn in the ground and that trend 3 to 5 day forecast is looks like she's warming up, uh, and we'll be in a much better spot then too. So it doesn't look like we're gonna get a lot of rain, I guess, at this point. So it just looks like we're gonna turn the corner on temperature.

Chris: So yeah, and it seems like too, if we lose a little bit of stand on the, on the corn, then, you know, that does give you a little bit more yield penalty. Where, you know, on the soybeans, as long as it's somewhat uniform, it seems like the soybeans are a little more tolerant on on, you know, the stand being a little bit more variable, they tend to be a little more tolerant, it seems like, than corn.

Eric

Zumbach: Yep, and that's exactly right. And obviously, when we're thinking about seed treatments on soybeans, certainly the seed treatments we develop now, obviously, a lot of it's geared to our planting windows being pushed earlier, so we're trying to protect that seed, you know, from those early season diseases, but also diseases throughout the growing season. We know that early in the season when soils are cool and wet, you know, it's a little bit of a window there for sudden death to maybe get into that plant. So, use products like Alevo, does an exceptional job protecting that plant against sudden death syndrome. The other one that Pioneer's got in their lineup does Lumicena seed treatment, which is particularly for Phytophthora root rot. So, that does an exceptional job protecting them from any damping off from Phytophthora.

So certainly we can err in our favor by utilizing some of these seed treatments to ensure that we get more uniform stand and kind of help give us the green light maybe to go a little bit earlier too.

Chris: Yeah, two things there that, and tell me your thought on it, but this is my bias. You know, you sit there and we're looking at $12 to $13 beans, you divide out the, the yield potential and figure out a cost on a per-bushel standpoint. A lot of these seed treatments and these things that either enhance or protect yield are a really good investment in my opinion, because, you know, it's, it's, uh, we're, we're buying insurance on a Cadillac rather than a used Buick, you know, when, when we've got these kind of commodity prices and, and these opportunities. So we want to make sure we capitalize on that. The second thing I was going to say too, get your take on this, but you know, as farmers, and I know this is the constraint or the issue that a lot of us think about and makes us want to go maybe sometimes quicker than we should, is we got a lot of acres to cover.

And you know, we've seen conditions where when the soil is fit, it eventually is going to warm up. And when the soil is fit A lot of times when it warms up, guess what comes with a warming trend? Usually some moisture, right? And then all of a sudden it— right, you can, you can go out and you plant some of it, but you leave a bunch of it alone because you're concerned about the planting conditions or the cold or whatever that may be coming. Well, then it does warm up, you catch some rains, and now you got another window of lost opportunity where you got to wait, you know, sometimes maybe another 5, 7 days for the ground to dry out, but it's 70 degrees and it's raining, you know, and all of a sudden it warmed it up and it's just enough to keep you out of the field. I think that's, you know, from a subconscious standpoint, that's something a lot of us, you know, are concerned about.

Well, if the seed's not out there, it's not going to grow in the bag either. So, you know, right, just talking as a farmer, I guess you can talk me off that cliff, but that's one of the things I think emotionally that we deal with.

Eric

Zumbach: Yep, I'd agree. And you know, if I just look back at the last, oh gosh, 3, 4, 5 years, you know, we always have— we've always had a pretty good planting window there, kind of mid-April, kind of early window to get it going. Soil conditions might be cool, but they're really dry. Boy, things just work perfect. And to your point, it seems like that last week of April, historically, to that point, we see a big forecast of rain coming, and then we get maybe a little anxious and go in there and put some crops in, some soil conditions that certainly aren't near as fit as what they were maybe the week before in some cooler, drier conditions. And those tend to be the ones where I get my service calls at then, if I look at my historically last 3 or 4 years. So I agree with you. Obviously, that's a pretty tight window. We got a lot of acres to cover.

Uh, spreading out our risk, you know, we, we know we don't want to wait until the end of April here. Then you do get that window, 7 to 10 days of rain, and then all of a sudden we're starting to lose yield as we move into, you know, 10th of May and after. So So yeah, we certainly, I could say, put a risk out here, get some going in early. We know we're going to be warming here at the end of next week. I think we'll be a lot better spot.

Chris: So because I'm just going back to your, your top 3 things is the soil fit, is what's the temperature, and what's forecast. And that soil being fit for a lot of years has really been the biggest challenge of those 3, really. Yep. You know, and we've had some pretty wet conditions and stuff obviously in some areas, but it just seems like that getting the soil fit and, and, uh, that's kind of the big thing, seems like, because it eventually does warm up.

Eric

Zumbach: Yeah, and personally, I guess for myself too, just, um, like from the big picture, in a lot of fields that I walk through the growing season, um, I'll take that early cool dry window and put my farmer hat on here, that early cool dry window when the soil conditions really fit, because once we start pushing it, it seems like we get into a lot of tillage, a lot of compaction issues. When those soils aren't fit. And boy, that really impacts the yield more later on that season too. So it's a balancing act. You know, we like to say everything's perfect and when you say yes to all three, but we also know when we come into Iowa here that if we were waiting for perfect conditions, that could, may not ever happen, you know, until middle of June and who's going to wait until then, right? So we know we got to spread that risk out and do the best we can with what we've got, certainly.

Chris: So another question I have, and we'll kind of wrap things up unless you have anything that we haven't touched on, but as far as, um, chemical application, I want to touch on that for a second. You know, with these cool temperatures and, and stuff, any, any watch-outs or anything that are concerning you right now? Um, here over the weekend we've seen a lot of sprayers moving. I had to drive about 6 miles in a tractor and I think I counted 7 or 8 sprayers one about every mile. So any concerns or things that you're watching there with herbicide applications?

Eric

Zumbach: Probably the big thing is we come into some of these burndown applications. Again, you gotta ask yourself, what's the forecast? Is the trend look at 50 degrees and higher? Are we seeing actually warm, actively growing plants out there? You know, we're coming into a cold spell here Tuesday, Wednesday. Some freezing conditions here, so if those plants aren't actively growing, certain of those herbicides that we're using for post application are going to be affected too. So, they're going to be a little bit slower in their activity and that sort of thing. So certainly getting some of these fall flies down, I think from the annuals, from the real small weeds that are emerging on the ground right now with some of the products we're putting on, I don't get too worried about that. I get more concerned with some of the burndown applications.

—when we're trying to kill some perennial weeds and some of these burn-downs, some maybe some of the COVID crop termination applications going on that maybe might want to wait on the other side of that when things are actually growing. We'll get a lot better kill. And on that same front, you know, the good thing is we got a lot of technologies out here in our corn and beans bowl. So we do get some second chances, I guess, from a herbicide standpoint if we don't get everything killed that first time where On the corn plant side of things, sometimes we don't always get that second chance, you know. So the good thing is there's some weed trade technologies in there that do offer some second chances here as we get some crops up out of the ground, you know, whether it's seeing list products, the Cambra products, obviously Roundup, Liberty, and those sorts of products.

There's a lot of products out there that we can put in these crops as an early post application that, like I say, can give us some second chances. So You bet.

Chris: So anything that I'm— I haven't hit on, you know, I mean, we've kind of hammered this, this temperature thing. And, and I think, you know, you talk to one farmer and he's going to wait no matter what, uh, talk to the next farmer, uh, he's gonna go no matter what. And you talk to the next one and he doesn't know what to think, he's confused. And I always tell people, you know, if you ask enough people, finally you'll find somebody that agrees agrees with you, and then you can do that. But, uh, yeah, it's right, right. It's just one of these things that this year in particular, it's just been kind of confusing because in a lot of areas the soil conditions are pretty fit, and, uh, and with this cold, cold, uh, temperatures and with what's coming in the forecast, it's definitely making it tough.

Eric

Zumbach: Yeah, yep. So yeah, and I, um, like you say, um, as we look, um, here to the next week I think once we get Tuesday, Wednesday here, that thing's really going to turn around. So, and like you say, a lot of it's been, we got a lot of acres to plant and everybody's got different sizes as far as their farm operations go. So some, you know, certainly spreading that risk out if you cover a lot of acres, getting going a little bit earlier, probably the thing to do too. And also there's just the mindset, you know, maybe a little more conservative minded, maybe wait until Thursday, Friday, looks like the forecast is good. You can optimize, you know, that planning window there too. So yeah, it's, you know, certainly all over the board, a lot of it depends on how much of a risk taker you are and how conservative-minded, I guess, from that standpoint.

But we know that we got to get the crop in the ground and time is pretty precious here when we get towards the end of the month of April here. It seems like time slips by pretty quick if we don't stay on top of it here and like you say, then we get a rain event, we're behind the 8-ball again. So, um, so we got risk on both sides, you know.

Chris: So spreading that out is a good thing, right? And just kind of, yeah, and you know, maybe don't plant at all here right in front of this cold spell. If you get stuff working, sometimes that has a lot of value too. You go out and plant a farm or two and get everything working, and then when you do need to hammer down, you're ready to roll. Yep, yep.

Eric

Zumbach: That's probably a big thing too. We've got a few days here, you know, even though things are cool, we can do some tillage, let that ground warm up. Get through this cold spell and boy, we'll be in a lot better place here coming into the week, into next week, you know, as far as getting planting going. So, um, yeah, so we're just a lot better spot. The good thing is we don't see a lot of rain in the forecast, so I guess that's, that's the plus side of it, you know. If we were looking at cold temperatures and snow and rain, then we'd really get all balled up, I guess, or concerned more, I guess, put it that way, right? So, sure. Um, so the plus side is that we don't see a lot of rain in the forecast, so it looks like we're gonna have really good windows here. Get a lot done in a short amount of time, certainly. So you bet.

Chris: Well, hey, I think this is a good place to wrap up unless there was anything that I didn't catch, catch. But we really appreciate your, uh, time here today, Eric, and, uh, and we'll, we'll hit you up again here when we get, uh, get the crops out of the ground and see how things are going, if that works for you. Yeah, that'd be great.

Eric

Zumbach: It's always good to go out and evaluate some of his early planted fields. We always learn something every year, you know, early versus later and things like that. So, uh, so yeah, this can be one of those years to be kind of good to summarize and kind of follow back up and see how things are getting along. So we can always learn something.

Chris: That's right, that's right. Well, hey, thanks a lot, Eric. Appreciate your time today.

Eric

Zumbach: Yep, you bet. Thanks, Chris. Look forward to chatting with you again.

Chris: You bet. That's Eric Zumbaugh, Pioneer agronomist in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa City area in, in Eastern Iowa. So again, everybody, thanks for listening, and we'll be back with some more crop updates. And anybody has any updates or things they want to let us know, be sure to reach out to us. And again, thanks everybody for listening. Catch you next time on the Ag View Pitch.