Wet weather delaying farmers' corn planting

Local farmers are struggling to get this year's corn crop planted as the ground stays soggy.

Showers or storms are forecast for each of the next six days, which is likely to push planting back even farther, according to Anthony Ohmes, regional agronomy specialist with the University of Missouri Extension Center.

"We just need an extended period of sunny days to dry it out," he said. "It's difficult to sit and wait when it's time to plant."

Normally, Southeast Missouri farmers have more than half their corn planted by April 15, Ohmes said. Right now, only about 15 to 25 percent of Southeast Missouri's corn corps are in, he said.

"Some of our sandier soils to the south are already planted, but heaver soils take longer to dry out," Ohmes said.

For growers to get maximum yields, their corn needs to be in the ground by about May 10, he said.

Mike Geske of Matthews, Mo., a member of the National Corn Growers Association Board and past president of the Missouri Corn Growers Association, agreed.

"The later you plant, the more likely heat will be a factor during the pollination phase of the corn plant," he said. "You like to have it pollinated before you get into the really hot days of summer."

Corn planted later in the spring is also more susceptible to insect damage, although Geske said there are newer hybrid corn varieties that better withstand later planting.

The price of corn is more than double what it was a year ago. Corn for July delivery was trading at $7.59 per bushel Monday, according to the Chicago Board of Trade.

"Crop prices look attractive now because of many economic reasons throughout the world," said Mike Aide, chairman of the Southeast Missouri State University Agriculture Department.

World demand for U.S. corn, soybeans, rice, wheat and cotton is high due to middle-class growth and improving economies in China and India.

"Corn prices are generating a lot of enthusiasm," Geske said. "Farmers are looking forward to this growing season as a good chance to make a profit."

Nationwide, many farmers will raise corn instead of soybeans this year as a result of higher prices, but total corn acreage won't change much in Southeast Missouri, Geske said.

With cotton prices even higher than corn prices, he expects some farmers to switch their corn acreage to cotton, which is planted later in the season.

Cotton prices are 146 percent higher than a year ago, according to the Chicago Board of Trade. Cotton was trading at $1.95 a pound Monday.

The United States Department of Agriculture's weekly Crop Progress report showed Missouri's corn planting is about 10 percent behind this time last year. Considerable progress was made this past week, as the state went from 10 percent of the state's corn acres planted April 10, to 26 percent as of Sunday.

Many areas in northern Missouri are ahead of Southeast Missouri in corn acres planted, which is unusual, Geske said. Typically, Southeast Missouri farmers plant first.

"All the farmers are a little frustrated," he said. "We just get a dry day or two to plant and then we get another rain. Everybody is frustrated with the weather."

mmiller@semissourian.com

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