June crop observations

By Troy Putnam, Pioneer Field Agronomist, Southern Ohio

Once again, our spring weather has presented Ohio producers with extreme variability. Much of the territory I am responsible for lies south of Interstate 70, and we planted as much as I can ever remember in the month of April. Areas to the north have been extremely wet and faced delayed planting. The wind seemed to never stop blowing, causing delays with herbicide applications. If that was not enough, many areas of the state have experienced one or more frost/freeze events in early May that led to replanting several acres of soybeans. Corn in the south is off to a good start.

During the preseason, we select and place products, design herbicide programs, or map fertilizer applications, to name a few. I have never found it a waste of time to walk those fields we spend so much time talking about. Once the growing season starts, we can then see the results of those decisions.… Continue reading