Soil Temperature

Soil temperature is averaging around 45 degrees Fahrenheit still. This is an acceptable level to plant sugar beets yet but too cool for corn. This weekend looks to bring some low temperatures to the area again and may dip below freezing. The long range forecast shows next week to warm up and should provide a good week of planting conditions. We will continue to monitor the soil temperature. We don't want to chance the corn seed rotting out in the soil due to low soil temperatures.

Corn Planting

Good moisture hit our geography again last night. There should be adequate moisture to plant the corn crop. One thing everyone needs to remember is planting corn seed into the ground with soil temperatures less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit will not do any good. The seed will only sit there and if temperatures don't rise, the seed has the potential to rot and not germinate at all. Earlier this week the ground temperature was at 45 degrees Fahrenheit 4 inches down. These readings were taken on bare ground. On the no-till ground the temperature will be lower. There are a lot of acres to be planted this year but we want to make sure we do it the right way. I will continue to give updates on soil temperatures. Feel free to contact one of our agronomists and they can monitor your ground and give you a status report.

Editorial on Agriculture from Miss America 2011

Miss America 2011 is Teresa Scanlan. She is not only from Gering/Scottsbluff, NE community, but she was also a former employee at our Scottsbluff Grocery Store, Plaza Foods. This editorial came out on Friday, April 15th, when it was announced she was also going to be an advocate for agriculture, her state's number one industry, and the new spokesperson for "The Hand that Feeds U.S." Here is the link for that editorial from Fox News:

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/04/15/miss-america-teresa-scanlon-americans-stake-success-farmers-ranchers/

It is amazing to see an 18-year-old actually understand our industry well. But then again, she is an amazing 18-year-old woman. She represents Nebraska and America very well.

KNEB Radio Farm Director, Leslie Smith also had a story on this. Here is the link with comments from Miss America 2011!

http://www.kneb.com/news/agricultural/ca41c094-77ea-4d82-90fd-2317ab2bb008

Cold Weather Stress- Don't Plant Corn until it's Warm Enough

Here is another Agronomy Insight from Helena: Early Season Cold Stress

Phosphate Supply and Efficiencies

Here is a link to Agronomy Insights for April 2011 http://www.panhandlecoop.com/images/e0265401/AgronomyInsightsPhosphateSupplyandEfficienciesApril2011.pdf