Top 10 Preventable Corn Planting Mistakes

With corn there is little error when it comes to planting time.  Any one of these mistakes can cause 5-20 bushel losses on their own and often we see a combination of 3 or 4 in a given field.  I realize the sense of urgency when it is time, but taking time to think through decisions and come up with a plan is critical. 

#10 Working Too Far Ahead of Planter

During planting time we often see ground getting worked up 2-3 days ahead of planting to stay on schedule and focus on other tasks, but this can dry out ground in advance of the planter reducing germination or delaying germination.  You should try to be within 24 hours of the planter.

#9 Trash in the Seed Trench

We are finding more and more that a single coulter is not sufficient to clear heavy trash and it will often pinch residue into the seed trench resulting in seed being place on residue.  Running floating row cleaners where they are running about 50% of the time and just brushing the surface ahead of the row unit is the best setting.

#8 Plowing With Row Cleaners

Setting row cleaners to the point they are constantly running will create a trench water can collect in and will put your seed in soil 1-2" deeper than your intended layer which may be 5 degrees colder. 

#7 Down Force

You fill up your planter with 24 bags of corn, fertilizer, and maybe insecticide and set your down pressure; what happens when all of this is half gone?  You have too little down pressure, and the opposite happens if you set it when the planter is half full.  Updates like the Precision Planting Air Force system have helped this area.

#6 Planting Depth

I often hear that "we put it in shallow so it will come out of the ground faster," and that is something you should never do.  Variations in soil temperature decrease the deeper you go, so that 1.25" planting depth has a harder time coping with a night time low in the 30's compared to 2" deep.

#5 Planting Ahead of a Cold Rain

It's frequently talked about that planting less than 36 hours ahead of a cold rain will harm emergence and lead to more problems than it’s worth.  I know tucking the planter in the shed with good weather seems like a bad idea, but that first water the seed imbibes is critical to its emergence.

#4 Planting Before 50 Degree Soil Temperatures

So the soils at 48 degrees and the air is 60 degrees, but the next 3 days it will fall back to the 40's for a high; this is a scenario we had last year.  Good current weather doesn't mean the soil is up to temperature and if it doesn't improve that seed is sitting there waiting.  The only time I would recommend planting at less than 50 is if you were around 48 and the next 10 days looked warmer than normal and it was late in the planting season.

#3 Planting When it's Too Wet

We get into this discussion with growers when we talk about closing wheels and seed firmers, "what about if the mud sticks to my seed firmers?"  If it's sticking to seed firmers or you are concerned about build up on the gauge wheels it's too wet to plant.  I've seen more poor stands from planting when the conditions are too wet than anything else. 

#2 Hybrid Placement - Maturity Planting

A common problem we run into is when people just take seed and start planting based solely on maturity; late goes in first, etc.  You run a greater risk of yield loss by placing seed in zones it doesn't do well in than  by planting 102 day corn versus a 100 day corn.  Drydown doesn't do anything to hurt your yield; it's just an added cost later on.  I'd rather have a point or two wetter and 20 more bushels of corn any day. 

#1 Not Checking Behind the Planter

I have a customer who religiously checks behind the planter as many as 10 times per field depending on size.  He worries about being "different" but he always notices mistakes before anyone else because of this.  I have the other side of the spectrum, "it worked last year, why worry."  Catching planting mistakes early can mean a lot of yield in the end, and that's the reason we have gone to the 20/20 monitor the last couple years.  Getting a 3-5 second average isn't cutting it anymore.  You can't see what you are doing, so why not have something showing what you are doing.