Growing Degree Days to Determine Crop Emergence

We are told that patience is a virtue, but in mid-April with rain every three or four days and cool temperatures (soil temperature one recent morning was 50 degrees), patience is a commodity in short supply in farm country. The weather has its own agenda and no interest in ours. Right now the weather is ranging from a low in the 40s to a high in the upper 60s. That makes the mean temperature about 50 degrees. One formula for growing degree units (GDUs) is the average temperature minus 50 equals heat degree days. Therefore, we are NOT presently accumulating growing degree units. Depending on the soil, it takes between 100 and 150 GDUs to get corn out of the ground and a bit more for soybeans to emerge.

Even with the excellent seed treatments we use these days, putting seed in cold, wet ground is not part of a formula for success. Sometimes we need to take a deep breath, spend a little more time in the shop and maybe some family time wouldn’t hurt either. We only get one chance to put the crop in right, and Mother Nature rules with a firm hand – do it wrong and she will make you regret it. The American farmer has the capacity to plant the entire national corn crop in a ten day period, according to the USDA. Take the time to prepare before the soil and temperature hit the right marks so you can do it right the first time and won’t need to worry about a second chance.