We’re 72 hours out from the late May frost that occurred across much of Ontario, and farmers are busy scouting corn fields for damage. Thankfully, most farmers and crop scouts are already seeing green signs of re-growth — a welcome sight — but reports are trickling in of badly damaged areas within fields.
Why did some corn plants get harder hit than others? In this Corn School filmed just this morning, May 26, near Woodstock, Ont., Ken Currah, of PRIDE Seeds, highlights one major factor that contributes to frost damage — planting depth.
Currah explains what you’re looking for for re-growth, why planting depth can mean the difference between a dead plant or a just-frosted one, and reminds farmers that those dead leaves still count as leaves when staging this crop later in the growing season.
(A discussion on re-plant cost factors continues after the video)
How do you make the call to replant? Dr. Dave Hooker suggests farmers check out GoCorn.net, where they’ll find a re-plant calculator. Gilles Quesnel, with OMAFRA, shared this handy chart on Twitter:
Corn replant costs include destruction of old crop, starter fert., seed, replant, tillage, more herbicide … pic.twitter.com/chZav197Kl
— Gilles Quesnel (@GillesQuesnel) May 25, 2015
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