Corn planting continues at a steady pace across South Central Minnesota and is close to 50% complete. Spotty rain around the New Ulm area has kept some areas out of the field. While inspecting corn fields that were planted a week to 10 days ago, I noticed that our cooler temperatures have lowered soil temps below the 54° germination mark. The Mankato area lost 3° of soil temps from its high point of 56°, indicating that we should consider waiting a few days for warmer temps.

With wetter, colder soils, soybean planting conditions are marginal. Soybeans can germinate at 50°, but germination and emergence are slowed. There is no real benefit to having your seed sit almost dormant in cooler soils then leaving it in the bag while you wait for warmer soil temps. It’s not uncommon to see soybean fields that were planted a few days later in warmer soils emerge faster than soybeans planted earlier in cooler soils. There is plenty of time to wait a few days for better planting conditions as optimal soybean planting dates range from May 1-15. Remember, if you’re planting soybeans early in cooler soils, use fungicide treated seed like our Latham® SoyShield.