Farmers in Upper Midwest waiting for warmer soils to begin planting

Many Midwestern corn and soybean farmers are waiting for soils to warm up before planting.

University of Minnesota Extension corn agronomist Jeff Coulter tells Brownfield soil temps at 3 to 4 inches deep should be at least 50 degrees and trending up.

“So if that soil temperature drops to around 40 degrees or lower within one to two days after planting, that’s not a good thing because we can have imbibitional chilling injury occurring, and that can cause problems with emergence.”

He says the 48 hours post-planting are critical.

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