Things To Prepare While Waiting For Planting Season – Ag Matters

With the entire week forecast to be rainy, planting season seems to be far off in the future. Bonnie Collins with Cornell Cooperative Extension lists some things to prepare so when the weather break does happen you're ready to hit the field.

Collins says late planting can reduce yields; in fact, corn yields drop a bushel an acre for each day it's planted after May 1.  Now is the time to prepare equipment, soil, budgeting and planting options.

Equipment repair and maintenance 

1. Customize planter to fit your farming conditions
2. Know your basic preparations
3. Row cleaners vs no-till coulter
4. Markers or no markers?
5. Attach liquid fertilizer tanks

Soil Preparation

Make a decision on the form of tillage needed, depending on the amount of crop residue each leaves on the surface.

1. Conventional Tillage
2. Reduced tillage
3. Conservation tillage

Budgeting

Winter or a wet spring is the time to crunch numbers; reviewing profit or loss from the previous year and working with a budget for this year’s crop, you should decide what your cropping mix will resemble and what the best agronomic practices you should hear to.

 

Booking and purchasing inputs 

By this time you should have an idea of what you want to grow and that you have pre-purchased the inputs you need, such as seed, chemicals and fertilizer. If you have not pre-purchased these inputs then it’s time to find out availability and costs of those inputs.

Breakdowns are something you can't plan for, but here are some tips on minimizing planter problems from American Agriculturist.

SOURCE:  Cornell Cooperative Extension Oneida County - Bonnie Collins