Early-Season Stress Busters
February 26, 2008 Pioneer Hi-Bred offers tips for managing early-season stress in corn.
The trend toward planting corn earlier continues to grow. According to scientists with Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, this trend presents growers with several crop management challenges that can impact crop productivity significantly.
Select best planting date
"Selecting the best planting date is the most critical decision your growers must make to enable a crop to have a successful start," says Dr. Imad Saab, Pioneer research scientist. "Growers should pay close attention to weather forecasts and consider specific field conditions and characteristics before deciding on a planting date.
"Knowing the history of your growers’ fields — what planting dates have worked, the soil type, and drainage characteristics — is very beneficial," says Saab. "Consider waiting for warmer conditions before planting fields that are not as well drained or those with a track record of early-season insect pressure or seedling blight."
Growers who plant ahead of an inclement weather event, such as snow or heavy rain, are typically at a higher risk of losing stand to stress. He also cautions against planting if the soil temperature is below 50 degrees.
Plant well-drained, low-residue fields first
Fields that drain better also warm up faster, which is much more conducive to rapid emergence and seedling growth.
Select stress-tolerant hybrids
Research has shown that corn crops experiencing stress immediately after planting can suffer significant stand losses. Saab points out that choosing hybrids with good early-season stress tolerance is an effective way to help offset these losses.
Effective seed treatment
Seedling pathogens such as Pythium and Fusarium often are more problematic in early planting conditions if the seedlings are weakened by cold or waterlogging. Saab says to combat this, Pioneer offers Dynasty fungicide (azoxystrobin) plus a seed-applied insecticide. This treatment also includes the standard Maxim XL fungicide and a polymer that improves plantability and reduces dust-off. Pioneer research has shown this combination is the premier seed treatment for corn stand establishment in the industry.
(Source: Pioneer Hi-Bred)
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