Story 7

Plenty of time to plant corn

MARION, Oh – Many corn farmers in the state are eagerly watching the skies and weather forecasts so they can continue to plant crops.

Anthony Bush, a Mt. Gilead farmer in north central Ohio, says he has 165 acres in the ground. He’s waiting on drier weather to plant the rest.

Ron Rockhold of Sabina in Fayette County in southwest Ohio has 316 acres planted and has only 30 acres left. And he says some of the neighbors already have their corn planted.

According to the USDA, 51 percent of the corn crop is planted in the U.S. as of May 12. Last year at this time 77 percent of corn was planted.

But a representative from Midwest Seed Genetics, John Knedler, says corn growers still have time to plant their crops.

“We should have the corn in the ground by June 5,” he says. “With new hybrid seeds on the market the corn dries faster when harvested, so delaying planting doesn’t hurt it as much as it used to.”

With higher costs, farmers may be more likely to dry their corn.

“At $6.50 a bushel,” Knedler says, “it’s okay to spend 50 cents to dry it.”

Sometimes planting corn too early in April can lead to stress on the plants due to cool weather and frosty mornings. Knedler says waiting for warmer weather makes sense.

But, in the meantime, Bush keeps on waiting.

“If this job was easy everyone would do it,” he said, quoting his grandfather.