Corn

Is Your Corn Sidedress Strategy Ready For The V10 Surge?

Thu, 21 May 2026 20:39:44 GMT

The optimum window for making sidedress nitrogen applications in corn is narrower – and potentially earlier – than many growers might realize.

Dan Kaiser, University of Minnesota Extension nutrient management specialist, says recommendations for Minnesota call for sidedress applications to be wrapped up by the V6 growth stage – not because the crop is already using large amounts of nitrogen, but because of when the nutrient is most needed by the crop.

By V5 to V6, corn has taken up only about 10% of its total seasonal nitrogen requirement. But the crop’s demand curve turns sharply higher after that.

Pioneer reports that corn nitrogen needs start to build once the crop hits the V8 growth stage (8-leaf collar stage). Between V8 and VT (tassel) – a rapid vegetative window that can take as few as 30 days – corn takes up roughly half of its lifetime N, the company says.

“The most rapid uptake period that occurs for corn is between the V10 and VT (tasseling) time period,” Kaiser adds.

He describes the stretch from V10 to VT as a critical zone when nitrogen must be present in the root zone and readily available for uptake. If nitrogen is short when the plant’s daily demand peaks at about V14, the yield penalty can be severe.

“Shorting the crop at that point in time can have pretty significant impacts when it comes to yield decreases from lack of nitrogen,” Kaiser says.

Consider Application Timing For Crop Availability

Kaiser stresses that the goal of a sidedress strategy is not simply to provide nitrogen to the crop, but to time applications so the fertilizer is transformed into plant-available forms and in place by the time rapid uptake begins.

“When we start talking about key points in availability, we want to make sure that our fertilizer is most available by V10 to make sure we’re meeting that high daily demand by the crop,” he says.

For growers, that means backing up from the V10 window and planning sidedress operations so field conditions and logistics don’t push applications too late.

With that in mind, Pioneer recommends sidedressing nitrogen between V4 to V6. This built-in “margin of safety” protects growers if rainy weather, wet fields or equipment breakdowns delay application, ensuring the nitrogen is already in the root zone and available the moment the rapid growth surge begins.

Here’s a summary of information on nitrogen use in corn at V10 through grain fill.

V10 to V14 (Rapid growth): Corn takes up the bulk (about 70%) of its total nitrogen during this window. Availability at these stages is critical, according to University of Illinois Crop Physiology Lab research.

VT to R1 (Tasseling and Silking): Generally, this is the latest an application should be considered for the opportunity for adequate ROI, reports Iowa State University Integrated Crop Management Extension .

After R1 (Grain fill): Nitrogen applications are rarely beneficial or profitable at this point. The crop has already taken up about 80% of its total N. Use the Iowa State Extension guidelines for actionable advice on rescue applications.

Pre-Sidedress Soil Nitrate Test

Given the high cost of fertilizer, agronomists say farmers might want to consider using the Pre-Sidedress Soil Nitrate Test (PSNT) to dial in the amount of nitrogen needed right before application.

Purdue University guidelines state that if a PSNT soil sample (taken at a 1-foot depth when corn is 6- to 12-inches tall) shows a nitrate level of 25 ppm or higher, the soil already has enough organic mineralization, and the probability of a profitable yield response to sidedress nitrogen is very low.

Iowa State’s guidelines for corn growers are heavily focused on adjusting sidedress plans based on spring weather. If Iowa experiences an excessively wet spring, Extension agronomists recommend dropping the PSNT critical threshold to 20 to 22 ppm (acknowledging that wet soils restrict early root access) and increasing the planned sidedress rate to compensate for denitrification and leaching losses in the state’s heavy soils.

You can hear more from Minnesota’s Dan Kaiser about how to meet corn’s daily nitrogen demands at this episode of Nutrient Nuggets .

Balance The Nutrient Checkbook: Why This Year’s Sidedress Is A 'Make-or-Break' Moment

Mon, 18 May 2026 17:33:08 GMT

With a planting season marked by everything from drought to dust storms, frost, hail and a pounding rain event, Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie is urging growers to treat sidedressing corn as an important opportunity to balance their nutrient checkbook.

In his latest Boots In The Field report, Ferrie says this spring’s combination of extreme weather and altered fertilizer plans have created a “make-or-break” moment for some farmers.

“If you pulled dry fertilizer out of your plans or switched products, you have to account for that missing nitrogen,” Ferrie notes. “For example, if you eliminated 200 pounds of DAP or switched to triple superphosphate (0-46-0), you are missing approximately 36 pounds of nitrogen that must be replaced during sidedress to maintain yield potential.”

He emphasizes that sidedressing should not be treated as a routine pass this year, but as a strategic correction point.

“Most likely,” he adds, “right now is your last or best chance to get that done before the crop’s nitrogen needs outpace what’s available.”
While his comments are targeted to corn growers in central Illinois, he adds that the need to balance nutrient plans applies to farmers across the country this year.

The Risks Of “Blind Sidedressing”

With windows of opportunity tightening, some growers are considering “blind sidedressing” their crop — applying nitrogen before the corn has emerged or at spike. While GPS and steering technology make this practice less risky, Ferrie urges caution. Ideally, growers would wait for emergence to assess stands and adjust rates based on actual plant populations.

If you choose to move forward with blind sidedressing, he says to keep these three cautions in mind:

1. Seedbed Disruption: If the applicator “crabs” in the field or the GPS shifts, injection knives can inadvertently dig up seeds and/or ruin the seedbed.

2. Ammonia Burn: UAN (28% or 32%) or anhydrous ammonia can work well with this practice, but application depth matters. Ensure you are deep enough to prevent nitrogen burn on the emerging coleoptile or young roots.

3. Soil Conditions: Ferrie says to avoid running heavy injection coulters if the soil is too wet, as this can cause smearing and sidewall compaction next to the furrow and restrict early-season root growth.

Navigating Erosion And Safety Hazards

The recent “pounding” rain events in central Illinois have left many fields scarred with deep gullies and washouts. Ferrie emphasizes the importance of mapping these hazards now. Once the corn canopy closes, these washouts become invisible, posing a significant threat to equipment and operator safety during sidedressing, spraying and even harvest.

“After these events, many growers are realizing they need to reinstall waterways they once thought were unnecessary,” Ferrie says. In the short term, he adds, ensure your team identifies and flags these washout areas before the corn gets too tall to see them.

Hear Ferrie’s full recommendations and early-season crop review in this edition of Boots In The Field at the link below:

Build A High-Yield Powerhouse From The Bottom Up

Tue, 05 May 2026 17:40:08 GMT

The planter monitor in your tractor cab insists the seed corn is tucked away at a 2.5-inch planting depth, but Randy Dowdy says to question that placement. The high-yield row-crop grower explains there is often a difference between what the planter monitor says and what the soil shows — and the gap between the two can rob farmers of yield potential before the crop ever breaks the soil surface.

“You have to distinguish between the planting depth and what we call the germination depth. It’s a potential problem we talk about all the time with our farmers in Total Acre ,” says Dowdy of his agronomic business he co-owns with David Hula, world champion corn grower.

Iowa State Extension defines planting depth as the placement of the seed corn in the soil, while germination depth (emergence) is where the corn nodal roots will form, regardless of the planting depth.

The discrepancy that can occur between the planting depth and germination depth often happens at the moment the seed trench is closed or shortly thereafter. The planter might place the seed at 2.5 inches, but the closing system can shift seed upward — especially in dry, loose soils. As the dirt settles the seed can end up germinating at a significantly shallower depth than the grower intended.

“When we check seed placement in an open furrow, there’s no doubt about it, we were planting at 2.5 inches,” Dowdy notes in a recent video. But as he moves behind the machine to inspect the closed row, the reality changes. In Dowdy’s field demonstration, the shift is dramatic, showing the seed is now sitting much closer to the soil surface.

“When we dig into that closed trench, we find that the seed is now sitting in the ground at about 1.5 inches to 1.75 inches, and that’s not what you want,” Dowdy says. Watch the video on Farm Journal TV .

The result of that shallow germination depth is a fundamental threat to corn, Iowa State Extension reports. Shallow germination can impact early root development and contribute to rootless corn syndrome, susceptibility to herbicide injury, poor drought tolerance and other issues that can impact growth and development throughout the season and, ultimately, reduce yield.

(Farm Journal TV)

To combat this, Dowdy’s philosophy is simple: trust what you learn using a shovel to dig behind the planter to locate the seed; don’t depend only on what the planter monitor in the tractor cab shows.

Dowdy and Hula advocate for establishing a consistent germination depth for seed corn across the field, ensuring that plants have the strong foundation they need to thrive.

“For proper root development, we like to maintain a consistent two-inch germination depth,” advises Dowdy, who’s based near Valdosta, Ga.

Dan Quinn, Purdue University Extension corn specialist, says the “most common seeding depths recommended for corn range between 1.5 and 2 inches deep, and these planting depths can work very well within most conditions, however, certain soil moisture conditions at planting may warrant further examination/change in seeding depth.”

This year, with dry soil conditions in the Southeast, farmers have had difficulty achieving a 2-inch planting depth consistently for good emergence. Dowdy’s directive to growers in dry ground is to account for the “settle” in soils at planting by adjusting planter settings to go a bit deeper with planting.

Iowa State Extension agrees, noting that a 3-inch depth is usually OK in drier soils. While deeper planting can take slightly longer to emerge, it can lead to more uniform stands compared to shallow planting.

“My advice in these (dry) conditions is to plant a bit deeper, knowing the ground will settle, and you’ll get better root development,” Dowdy says.

By prioritizing the physical reality of the seedbed over the digital feedback in the cab, Dowdy believes farmers can unlock better performance without any additional overhead. By doing so, growers “will do a better job, and you’ll have proper root development and help you on your yields for free,” he says.

You can hear more about how this season is shaping up for Dowdy and Hula on their latest edition of Breaking Barriers With R&D podcast with Chip Flory on AgriTalk. Listen at the link below:

From 60 to 600 Bu. Per Acre: Is 1,000-Bushel-Corn Next?

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 12:23:13 GMT

Across parts of the South, farmers are sitting on the sidelines this spring, not not because fields are too wet, but because they’re too dry to plant. With dust blowing and soil moisture in short supply, planters are parked as growers wait for rain, a stark reversal of the delays they’re more accustomed to and a reminder that in agriculture, timing is everything.

“We’ve been dry all season so far and we actually stopped planting because we’ve been so dry. Can’t just get the planter in the ground,” says David Hula, a farmer in Charles City, Virginia.

After six weeks of high winds and little to no rainfall, Hula says the conditions are unlike anything he’s experienced.

“I talked to my cousin who’s a decade older than I am, and this is the driest he’s ever seen. And I’ve talked to my agronomist, he says we’re the third or fourth driest on record since 1875 for this time of year. So this is uncharted territory for me right now,” he says.

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While part of his crop remains unplanted, Hula is encouraged by what’s already in the ground.

“Everything that we’ve planted so far, I feel really good. Emergence has been spot on. Even their soybeans came up good,” Hula says. “We waited till things warmed up, you know, I’m very diligent and patient about that. And all that corn has come up awesome.”

Waiting Without Sacrificing Yield

With roughly 40 percent of his crop planted, Hula is now watching the skies and waiting for moisture before continuing.

“So the portion that you’re waiting on moisture to be able to plant at this point, you don’t feel like you’re sacrificing yield by waiting. You feel like you’re protecting yield,” we asked Hula.

“Oftentimes growers think, well, it’s too wet to plant or it’s been too cold. So they’re the things that you want to wait for. Well, we still, because we’re not late yet, we still want to make sure we get uniform emergence. That’s the key, that’s the first box every grower needs to be paying attention to,” Hula says.

He says with sporadic pockets of moisture within the dry soils, he says conditions are conducive for poor or uneven emergency when planting into drought conditions, and it’s a risk he’s not willing to take.

Hula’s World Corn Yield Record

That focus on emergence has paid off. Hula holds the world record for corn yield, producing more than 623 bu. per acre , a benchmark that underscores his disciplined approach. He says the year he grew that new record yield was in 2023, and it was a crop that wasn’t planted early.

“That was towards the end of May. I mean end of April, first part of May, but it seems like our highest yield stuff comes when we plant later,” Hula says. “And that is again, we’re checking that box of the crop coming up uniformly. And that’s the one thing I don’t know that growers really understand the importance of that. And once they do it and see it, they’ll say, you know, it might have been worth holding off for one week.”

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A Seed Legacy That Dates Back a Century

The hybrid behind that record yield — Pioneer P14830VYHR — carries a legacy that stretches back a century.

“One of the wonderful stories of Pioneer is actually the introduction of Raymond Baker,” says Dean Podlich, who leads R&D digital solutions at Corteva Agriscience, during Pioneer’s 100th anniversary celebration last week. “Raymond Baker was a college student. In 1926, he met Henry Wallace at an event at Iowa State. He was very interested in hybrid corn, and he said, I would like to get involved with hybrid corn to Henry Wallace. Together, they actually put an entry into the Iowa corn yield test, and they actually won that contest in 1927. This is actually a certificate from 1927. We actually have the ribbon.”

Podlich says that early success helped launch hybrid corn into mainstream agriculture.

“Raymond Baker actually quit college in 1928, he joined the company as a farm hand, and he would go on to lead the breeding organization for more than 40 years, especially after Henry Wallace went to Washington. And so there’s a huge amount of history that is the start of our research engine,” he says.

100 Years of Yield: 60 to 600 Bu. Per Acre

One of the inbreds behind modern hybrids, known as Baker’s Inbred or B164, still plays a role today.

“What’s fascinating is that David Hula had a world record with 623 bushels a couple of years ago. We can trace the family tree of the genetics behind that hybrid all the way back to Baker’s Inbred itself,” Podlich says.

Two kernels, 100 years apart: One yielded 60 bushels per acre in 1927; the other topped 623. They look nearly identical on the outside, but a century of genetic innovation separates them under the hood.

(Tyne Morgan)

To the eye, seeds from then and now look nearly identical. But the difference in performance tells a much larger story, from the seed yielding roughly 60 bushels per acre a century ago to more Hula’s record yield of more than 600 bu. per acre today.

“The thing that’s very striking as you look at these two sets of seeds is how similar they are. It’s really hard to see any difference, but under the hood these things are really, really different,” Podlich says. “You have 100 years of selection, 100 years of breeding, 100 years of improved agronomics, improved drought tolerance, and higher genetic potential. This one also has biotech traits in it that help increase yield, protect that yield from insects, and provide herbicide tolerance. So this is what’s so remarkable.”

Is 1,000 Bu. Per Acre Yield Next?

Even with record-setting yields already achieved, Hula believes the ceiling is still far off.

“My late granddad was the first one to break a hundred in the area. My dad, a couple hundred bushels, and we got three, four or five, and where we are now. And that has been a really steep incline. So I’m excited about where things are in the future. I have no clue what the yield potential is,” Hula says.

“Somebody was asking me what the yield potential is today. When you open up the bag, I would say it’s in excess of a thousand bushels. If that’s the case, we’re poor farmers. You know, here the country’s only averaging 180-some bushels, and if the potential is truly that, we’ve got a long way to go. But then can you imagine what price corn would be,” he says.

During Pioneer’s 100th anniversary last week, Sam Eathington, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Pioneer, gave remarks to those in attendance. In his address, he not only looked at the past, but also gave a glimpse into the future. He says in 50 years when Pioneer is celebrating it’s 150th anniversary, he think it’s possible agriculture will have national average corn yield of 300 bu. per acre and record yields reaching 1,000 bu. per acre.

For Hula, he thinks that’s a very reasonable reality even less than 50 years from now.

“Within 50 years, yeah, I do think so. That’s almost doubling where we are. But think about where we have come. And then also think about the technology that’s coming about,” Hula says.

As advancements in seed technology continue and farmers gain deeper insight into soil health through biological tools, Hula says the future of yield remains wide open.

“But as they start figuring out how to allow the plant to be more efficient with what it can find in the soil, I’m excited about that,” he says. “And then the one key that nobody can duplicate is sunlight. As they start figuring out how to make plants more efficient with the sunlight that we have and the moisture, either lack or more, the sky’s the limit.”

Related Story: The Technology Poised to Revolutionize Corn Yields — Just as Biotech Did in the 1980s

Monitor Early-Season Disease Risks In Racehorse Hybrids

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 19:52:38 GMT

Farmers heading into a cold, wet stretch of weather with high‑yield “racehorse” type corn hybrids should be ready to scout aggressively and treat early for disease, advises Dan Bjorklund, technical agronomist with Landus Cooperative.

Bjorklund says the combination of water-saturated soils and below‑normal temperatures in parts of Iowa and some other Corn Belt states could be setting the stage for stand and yield losses, especially in hybrids with traits that are more offensive than defensive.

He says those hybrids with offensive genetics may excel in warmer, “friendlier” springs but they can stumble when early‑season stresses ramp up.

“We know from past experience that when we have an extended period of cold temperatures and rain after planting that emergence will be impacted,” Bjorklund says. “We won’t get those hybrids up and out of the ground maybe as uniformly as we would like, and that has yield impact. We might possibly lose some seedlings due to diseases out there.”

Bjorklund points to current forecasts in parts of Iowa calling for temperature highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s following heavy rainfall as a red flag for early disease pressure in both corn and soybeans.

Bjorklund references environmental swings in recent years that have triggered major disease outbreaks. He ties cold, wet conditions and certain genetics to fusarium-related crown and stalk rot issues.

Scout Corn At V5, Evaluate Stalks

While seed treatments offer a good line of defense, Bjorklund notes that environment and genetics can still impact hybrids depending on how long the seed sat in the ground prior to emergence. He points out that many high-yielding “racehorse” hybrids are ill-equipped to deal with saturated soils.

Bjorklund recommends making a scouting pass in corn at the V5 growth stage – when corn plants have five leaves with visible collars – and digging up some plants and splitting stalks open for evaluation.

“Look at the crown… if it’s nice and white and clean and doesn’t show a lot of damage, OK. But if you see a little bit of discoloration, then I would say you need to be concerned about potential crown and stalk rots,” he says.

It’s almost self-explanatory when you look at this stalk. The discoloration is what you don’t want to see at around V5, indicating disease pressure and the need for a fungicide.

(Landus Cooperative)

Bjorklund recommends making a fungicide application when early‑season conditions are stacked against the crop, especially if stalks reveal any discoloration.

“Try to get that fungicide on when you know that plant is at V5, when it’s making the rows around and the length. So that’s when ear determination is occurring. We don’t want to have the corn to have a bad day at that point in time,” he says.

He acknowledges there is debate over how well fungicide applications penetrate the plant, but says the yield data in cold, wet scenarios are hard to ignore.

“The data shows that V5 applications, in situations where we had cold days and over three inches of precipitation, we had a really nice yield response. We do know that the data is supportive,” he says.

As forecasts in some parts of the Corn Belt continue to point to cool, wet stretches, proactive scouting and timely treatment may be the difference between a racehorse hybrid that finishes strong — and one that doesn’t get a strong start out of the gate.

You can hear all of Bjorklund’s recommendations in his latest video here .

Trump Warns Fertilizer Giants Against "Price Gouging" as Costs Soar 40%

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 15:46:51 GMT

Fertilizer market volatility is once again taking center stage as geopolitical tensions disrupt global supply lines and push input costs sharply higher. New analysis shows the increase in fertilizer prices may not be over, even if the Strait of Hormuz reopens soon.

Even with the situation in Iran pushing prices even higher, the sharp increase in fertilizer prices from 2020 to now is catching attention in Washington. Not only did President Donald Trump take to social media to warn of ‘price gouging,’ but Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins also posted on X Monday, specifically expressing frustration over Mosaic’s response to farmers.

While Rollins and USDA Under Secretary Stephen Vaden have raised concerns over fertilizer prices this year, the president posted on Truth Social over the weekend that he is closely monitoring fertilizer prices and pledged support for American farmers.

Trump said Saturday on his Truth Social platform he is “watching fertilizer prices CLOSELY” during what he described as the US “FIGHT FOR FREEDOM in Iran”, adding that the administration “will not accept PRICE GOUGING from the fertilizer monopoly”.

On Monday, Rollins posted on X, saying she was “So disappointed in this response” from Mosaic, “especially as you decide to idle two fertilizer production facilities, removing 1 MMT of supply from the world market.”

So disappointed in this response, @MosaicCompany, especially as you decide to idle two fertilizer production facilities, removing 1 MMT of supply from the world market. 🚨

Our Great President and this Administration have our farmers' backs. 💪🌾

Any sleight of hand will not be… https://t.co/GTCxcBQNgi
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) April 13, 2026

Mosaic announced last week the decision to shut down major phosphate operations in Brazil, a move the that will cut production, reduce jobs, and signal a *strategic shift in how the fertilizer giant deploys its capital.

Mosaic Company announced Thursday it will idle two phosphate facilities in Brazil as part of a broader effort to cut costs and shift capital. Mosaic expects idling of the facilities to reduce annual phosphate production by approximately 1 million tonnes. CEO Bruce Bodine says the decision reflects what he calls a disciplined focus on long-term returns.

.@MosaicCompany, you’re right that U.S. farmers are facing a difficult economic situation, only made worse by the extra $6.9 BILLION they have had to spend on fertilizer since you petitioned the government to place duties on imported phosphorus. This has played a major role in… https://t.co/UuOqjE0jBu
— National Corn (NCGA) (@NationalCorn) April 13, 2026

Mosaic and Simplot have also been in the cross hairs of the push to remove countervailing duties on Moroccan phosphate . Groups like the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) claim the CVDs are costing U.S. agriculture $1 billion each year.

The CVDs on Moroccan phosphate were put into place by the International Trade Commission (ITC) in 2021. As the sunset review begins, more than 50 state grower groups including the Texas Corn Producers Association, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce and the ITC to revoke the countervailing duties on imported phosphate fertilizers from Morocco and Russia.

In separate filings by Mosaic and Simplot to the ITC and the Department of Commerce, both companies said the continuation is necessary to maintain a “level playing field.”

In a written response to Farm Journal, Mosaic said:

“American farmers depend on a strong domestic fertilizer industry, which in turn depends on strong enforcement of U.S. trade laws that ensure a level playing field. Mosaic is proud to support U.S. agriculture with high-quality, reliable products produced here at home.”

Iran War’s Current Impact on Fertilizer Prices

The message from the Trump adminstration comes as tensions escalate in the Strait of Hormuz, where the United States is weighing a potential full naval blockade. Ship traffic through the critical waterway has already dropped from roughly 135 vessels per day to the single digits. A complete shutdown could halt flows entirely, further increasing fertilizer prices.

The stakes are high as roughly one-third of global fertilizer shipments move through the strait, and the disruption is already sending prices higher, up more than 40% compared to a year ago.

It is the 6-week anniversary of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Fert price comparisons:

NOLA urea - +$230 or 49%
NOLA UAN - +$145 or 38%
Midwest NH3 - +$245 or 32%
NOLA DAP - +$130 or 21%
NOLA potash - +$10 or 3%

...corn - 2-cents or 0.5% higher#sickeningforfarmers
— Josh Linville (@JLinvilleFert) April 10, 2026

Market data shows the impact Iran is having on already high fertilizer prices. According to StoneX analyst Josh Linville says in the six weeks since the war started:

Urea prices have surged by $230 per ton, a 49% increase
UAN is up $145 per ton, or 38%
Anhydrous ammonia has climbed $245 per ton, a 32% jump.
In contrast, corn prices have barely responded, rising just two cents, or about half a percent. The divergence is putting additional pressure on farm margins.

DOJ Probe Into Fertilizer Costs Seeks Input From Farmers

The Trump administration is asking farmers to help provide information as part of an ongoing U.S. Department of Justice investigation into elevated costs for fertilizer, machinery and other key agricultural inputs, according to reporting from Bloomberg.

Bloomberg reported the effort is aimed at gathering more on-the-ground data as regulators examine whether fertilizer producers may have coordinated to raise prices. The DOJ investigation was first reported in early March, when Bloomberg said federal officials had begun looking into whether fertilizer companies engaged in price coordination.

According to the Bloomberg report, Vaden said he has already met with officials at both the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to discuss potential lines of inquiry. He also noted that farmers could play a key role in the process.

Vaden said farmers “have a lot of information that might be relevant to these investigations.”

Bloomberg previously reported in early March that the Department of Justice is investigating whether fertilizer producers colluded to increase prices.

Speaking at the North American Agricultural Journalists’ annual conference in Washington on Monday, Vaden encouraged farmer participation in the probe, emphasizing confidentiality protections.

“We need farmers to help provide us with that information on a confidential basis, so that that can help inform the investigations that are ongoing,” Vaden said, according to Bloomberg. “I think we will have a mechanism in order to help encourage that exchange of information.”

NCGA Surveys Show Not All Farmers Have Fertilizer Secured for 2026

Against that backdrop, along with fertilizer prices climbing even higher in the six weeks after the conflict started with Iran, new surveys results from NCGA highlight how those market pressures are translating to on-farm realities.

Krista Swanson, chief economist for NCGA, says the organization conducted the survey to better understand fertilizer availability from the farmer perspective. Ag Secretary Rollins has told mainstream media that 80% of farmers have fertilizer locked in for 2026, but NCGA data contradicts that figure.

“We’re hearing that number being thrown around too, which is why we really wanted to find out directly from farmers what the status is for them,” Swanson says.

NCGA Grower Survey

(National Corn Growers Association (NCGA))

A Significant Gap in Fertilizer Readiness

The surveys show that only 60% of farmers report having their nitrogen fully purchased or secured for the 2026 growing season, while 64% say the same for phosphate. That leaves a sizable portion of producers still working to lock in supplies.

“When you think about over 500,000 corn farmers in the U.S., this isn’t a small number,” Swanson says. “Our survey results indicate that over 200,000 farmers still need at least some fertilizer for this year.”

Nitrogen remains a critical input for corn production and is closely tied to yield potential. Any shortfall, whether driven by availability or cost, can directly affect productivity and profitability.

NCGA Grower Surveys

(National Corn Growers Association (NCGA))

Younger Farmers Feeling the Pressure Most

The survey also points to uneven impacts across the farm sector, with younger farmers facing greater challenges in securing fertilizer.

Swanson says younger producers reported having more nitrogen left to purchase compared to older farmers.

“You think about younger farmers that have less capital already built up in their business, maybe tighter cash flow needs because of their equity position,” she says. “This does seem to have a disproportional impact on younger farmers.”

That dynamic raises concerns about financial strain among newer operations in a high-cost environment.

Corn Acres Likely Stable, But With Reduced Inputs

Despite the challenges, most farmers are not planning to reduce corn acreage. The survey found that 80% of respondents expect to maintain their planned acres.

NCGA Grower Survey

(National Corn Growers Association (NCGA))

At the same time, fertilizer application rates may fall short. Half of the farmers surveyed say they do not expect to apply their full amount of fertilizer.

“Pairing these two together, it seems to me like we are still going to see a lot of corn acres get planted,” Swanson says. “But those corn acres will have less fertilizer than maybe what they would have otherwise had.”

That combination could limit yield potential if input reductions become widespread.

Growing Concern Shifts to 2027

While fertilizer availability remains a concern for 2026, attention is already turning to the next crop year. Fertilizer purchasing follows a rolling cycle, and planning for 2027 will begin soon.

Survey responses show that for every one farmer more concerned about fertilizer price and availability for 2026, nearly two are more concerned about 2027.

NCGA Grower Survey

(National Corn Growers Association (NCGA))

“So farmers are concerned as we look ahead to next year,” Swanson says.

The shift reflects uncertainty about how long supply disruptions and elevated prices will persist.

Supply Chain Recovery May Take Time

Even if geopolitical tensions ease, relief may not come quickly. Swanson notes that the fertilizer market is still dealing with production disruptions and supply chain backlogs.

“A short-term ceasefire has limited immediate impact on this ongoing fertilizer crisis for farmers,” she says. “Even when a permanent end to the situation is reached, we’re still looking at recovery from supply chain backlogs and halted production that could take a long time to recover from.”

Damage to key inputs such as liquid natural gas and sulfur production could take years to repair, keeping pressure on supply.

A Tightening Outlook

The NCGA survey underscores a challenging environment for corn producers. Most acres are expected to be planted this year, but not all will receive optimal fertilizer applications. At the same time, concern is building for 2027 as farmers look ahead to the next purchasing cycle.

For many producers, the issue is no longer just securing fertilizer for this season. It is navigating a period of sustained uncertainty that could shape production decisions, costs, and risk management strategies across the U.S. corn sector.

Longstanding Concerns Over Market Concentration

In September 2025, USDA and the U.S. Department of Justice signed a Memorandum of Understanding, committing both agencies to jointly examine high and volatile input costs, which included fertilizer, by scrutinizing competitive conditions in agricultural markets and enforcing antitrust laws, particularly around price setting and market concentration.

While geopolitical tensions are the latest driver of volatility, many farm groups argue the root of the problem runs deeper. Matt Perdue, president of the North Dakota Farmers Union, says ongoing federal investigations into fertilizer pricing must lead to meaningful action.

“We appreciate the administration’s investigations into input costs,” Perdue says. “But investigations don’t do anything if they’re not followed by enforcement, and they don’t do anything if we don’t learn what came out of those investigations.”

Groups like the Texas Corn Producers Association have been raising concerns about fertilizer market concentration for years. Texas farmer Dee Vaughan says the organization began studying the issue in 2020, working with the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M to examine pricing trends.

“We’ve been very concerned about all of our input costs, but specifically fertilizer, because it’s the one that just keeps going up almost exponentially,” Vaughan says.

He adds those studies found a shift in how fertilizer prices are determined . Historically tied closely to natural gas costs, the study found nitrogen fertilizer pricing began tracking corn prices more closely after 2010, a change Vaughan says reflects deeper structural issues.

According to Vaughan, the small number of firms controlling the market have the data and market awareness to price inputs based on farmers’ revenue potential, rather than production costs.

“They all have economists on staff,” Vaughan says. “They know exactly what our costs are, what our income is, and they’re able to extract value based on what they see as the gross income of a farmer. It’s not based on cost of production any longer.”

4 Agronomic Pillars Every Corn Grower Needs

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 18:50:44 GMT

What if the next 10-bushel bump on your corn ground doesn’t come from a new product or technology but from how deep you set the planter and where you placed nitrogen? Dan Quinn, Purdue University corn specialist, says the biggest yield gains still come from decisions that sound simple on paper and are hard to execute in the field.

For Quinn, a winning season hinges on four pillars: plant deep enough for consistent moisture, protect uniform emergence and roots, respect nutrient interactions, and use technology and timing to manage risk — not to shortcut agronomy.

“Fundamentals are fundamentals for a reason,” Quinn says. “If something’s off… you’re not going to get any benefit from some of those more progressive practices.”

Here are the four recommendations he offers growers to get a strong start this season:

1. Consider Moisture Availability, Not Just Planting Depth

A successful season begins at the planter, but Quinn warns against getting comfortable with a “standard” depth. He argues that corn should be placed where moisture access is reliable, even if that means pushing seeds deeper than your traditional comfort zone.

“I’d rather be a bit on the deeper side than the shallow side,” Quinn says. “We’ve done some seed depth work showing corn can get out of the ground at 4 inches deep.”

While his typical target is a 2-inch depth, he advises growers to move deeper in dry conditions. The primary goal, he advises, is to ensure every seed sits in the same soil and moisture conditions to trigger uniform germination.

To complete the imbibition (water uptake) phase of germination, corn needs to absorb 35% of its weight in moisture, according to University of Nebraska Extension research . When adequate soil moisture is available, this typically occurs within 48 hours.

2. Protect Uniform Emergence And Early Root Growth

Quinn calls corn “a pain” because it offers little to no forgiveness when emergence is uneven.

“We have to get it out of the ground at the same time,” he says. “It has to be uniform, it has to get out of the ground quickly, and it has to get that root system established and moving.”

When a field looks off, Quinn said that nine times out of 10, the problem can be identified below the surface. Issues like fertilizer salt injury, compaction, or heat desiccation in sandy soils often start early but don’t manifest visually until weeks later.

“We see more often than not that if you have problems… a lot of times you can point back to that root system,” he says.

3. Master The N:S Ratio And Starter ROI

As yield targets climb, the conversation is shifting from “how much nitrogen” to “how does nitrogen interact with other nutrients.”

Quinn is specifically watching the relationship between nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S).

“Nitrogen and sulfur behave very similarly in the plant. They’re kind of joined at the hip,” he says.

Purdue research shows that high nitrogen rates can actually induce sulfur deficiency by throwing off the plant’s internal balance. As you push N rates and yield potential up, the crop’s sulfur demand also increases. If S isn’t increased proportionally, sulfur can become a limiting nutrient in the system. Quinn currently recommends 15 to 25 pounds of sulfur per acre, though he believes that might be a bit low in a high-yield system.

Additionally, Quinn remains a staunch advocate for starter fertilizer. Beyond the agronomic “safety net” it provides as corn transitions off seed reserves, he points to a secondary economic benefit: lower grain moisture at harvest.

“I’ve seen trials where just the drying savings from starter is enough to pay for the system, even beyond the yield benefit,” he says.

4. Use Tech As A Guardrail, Not A Crutch

While Quinn supports the use of variable-rate planting and advanced sensors, he views them as tools to manage risk rather than replacements for boots-on-the-ground agronomy.

He highlights hydraulic independent downforce as a game-changer for maintaining consistency in variable soils. However, he notes that even the best technology cannot fix a poor timing decision. In Indiana, this has led to increased reliance on sidedress nitrogen to limit exposure to unpredictable spring weather.

“It helps reduce some of the risk and vulnerability,” Quinn says. “It’s about making sure we do what we can to maintain having that nutrient available for the plant when it needs it most.”

Hear more of Quinn’s insights and recommendations on this episode of A Penney For Your Thoughts Podcast

Defend Every Bushel With A Proactive Disease Plan

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 17:33:53 GMT

Addressing corn disease pressure in-season is rarely a matter of “if” and more likely “when.” Coming off heavy disease pressure from 2025, now is the time to put your plan together for how you’ll address challenges like northern corn leaf blight, tar spot and others this season. Plan your moves with these five recommendations, so you are ready to take action when disease pressure hits:

1. Use A Proactive Scouting Plan.

Success begins with staying ahead of disease, according to high-yield corn grower David Hula. “You have to stay proactive with your scouting and willing to go with earlier fungicide or even multiple applications, depending on what shows up,” he says.

While planning, consider the following:

1. Know your potential threats. Depending on the disease, some pathogens survive the winter on previously infected crop residue (e.g., northern corn leaf blight, tar spot). Other diseases move into northern growing areas on winds from southern locations (e.g., southern corn rust). For a suitable environment, many foliar diseases need warm, humid, and wet conditions to propagate.

2. Have your budget in place. Be ready for at least one in-season fungicide application. Use tools like the Newly Designed Fungicide ROI Calculators to guide your investment in products and applications. By inputting costs, market prices, and disease severity, these calculators provide research-based estimates of net benefits and breakeven probabilities, helping you make a more informed decision.

3. Delegate the scouting job, if necessary. If you cannot scout personally, assign the task to a family member, employee, or employ a professional service.

“Lots of great pest managers work in retail,” says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist. “Their success depends on you being successful also.”

2. Leverage Friends, Neighbors And Industry Expertise.

Don’t monitor disease pressure in a vacuum. Stay informed about what’s moving into your neighbors’ fields; track regional pressure by tapping into local agronomists and organizations like the Crop Protection Network.

Randy Dowdy, Hula’s partner in Total Acre, notes that in the Southeast, farmers are constantly receiving feedback from Extension and industry experts regarding southern rust.

Similarly, Elliott Henderson, who farms in Buchanan County, Iowa, has a group of farmers there that he connects with on a regular basis during the growing season.

“It’s a network of dozens of us farmers that call each other, bounce ideas off each other,” he says. “The things we’re talking about are often time-sensitive. It can be a daily thing.”

3. Select The Right Chemistry.

Applying the wrong product in the heat of battle with disease pressure is a common mistake. For aggressive diseases like tar spot or southern rust, Farm Journal Field Agronomist Missy Bauer recommends using “Cadillac” type chemistries — newer technologies that feature multiple modes of action.

To ensure you are using the right tool:

Consult Your Experts. Use the Crop Protection Network’s Fungicide Efficacy tables to see which products perform best against specific diseases.
Match Product to Problem. Ensure the product is labeled for your specific issue and is capable of handling high-pressure scenarios.

4. Optimize Applications for Maximum ROI.

If you need to apply a fungicide, make sure it delivers the results you need.

“It’s all about coverage,” Dowdy says. “Drone applications can be fine, but no matter what you do, if a guy is spraying two to three gallons, and you compare it to a ground rig spraying 15 to 25 gallons, I mean, there’s just no comparison in that coverage.”

Another aspect of coverage, Hula adds, is making sure the fungicide gets into the plant canopy far enough to have the desired effect. That becomes even more critical as the season advances.

“Fungicides have a tendency to work from the leaf they’ve come in contact with and move up,” Hula says. “So, if you’re trying to protect at least that ear leaf – and I like to protect the leaf opposite and below the ear – you’ve got to get penetration with that product.”

Hula says growers might have to spend a couple extra dollars to get sufficient volume for the product to get down below the canopy, if using a drone for application.

“If that’s what needs to be done, let’s do it,” he encourages. “If I’m spending $30 or more an acre, then I want to at least have the success that I’m paying for.”

5. Commit To Protecting Corn Through The Entire Season.

Modern corn genetics have significant “back-end” potential, enabling them to add yield through kernel fill late into the season. Hula and Dowdy advise against walking away from the crop early. They say evaluating fungicide applications during later reproductive stages can often yield a high return on investment.

D hybrids are of particular concern late-season, Ferrie says. These are hybrids that have kernel depth changes, positive or negative, based on populations and environmental conditions during the last 30 days of grain fill.

Missy Bauer, Farm Journal Field Agronomist in Michigan, zeros in on corn growth stage to guide uber-late-season fungicide applications.

“If I had a field that has no fungicide at all on it, and I had fairly heavy disease pressure from something like southern rust or tar spot, and I’m at early R4, I would still apply the fungicide,” she recommends.

The $10 Tool Randy Dowdy Uses To Grow Record Corn Yields

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 19:08:35 GMT

For high-yield corn grower Randy Dowdy, a successful harvest doesn’t start with the combine; it starts with a ratchet strap and an open furrow.

While many growers rely on high-tech in-cab monitors to guide their planting process, Dowdy argues the most critical data they need is found in the dirt behind the planter. By using ratchet straps to hold closing wheels up and out of the soil, he creates an “open furrow” that allows for a level of diagnostic evaluation he believes covered seeds cannot provide.

The Depth Deception

The logic behind this unconventional start to corn planting is rooted in the physical reality of soil settling. Dowdy, based near Valdosta, Ga., notes that even when a grower sets the planter for a standard two-inch depth, the final result often differs from what they were trying to achieve.

“Whenever the farmer goes back and looks at the plant, once it’s emerged, they find the germination depth is not the same depth as they planted,” he says. “Why did they not look at it and set it appropriately in the beginning? Chances are they can read that popsicle stick and measure depth. They know how to do that. But one thing I’ve found is that ground, when it’s been worked... it just settles.”

Whether a field is under conventional tillage, strip-till or no-till, the act of moving soil creates a “fluff” factor that can deceive even experienced corn growers. To compensate for this tendency, Dowdy advocates for planting slightly deeper in tilled or loose ground so the seed remains at the desired depth after the soil settles.

Open Furrow Diagnostics

To verify seed placement depth, Dowdy likes to use an open furrow for evaluation. He says this method allows growers to see exactly how the row unit is interacting with the soil environment without guesswork.

Randy Dowdy likes to check seed placement depth in an open furrow.

(Farm Journal)

“I don’t like to stand on top of my head and scratch for seed and all that garbage,” Dowdy says. “The first thing I want to do is make sure the row cleaners are set properly. I can do that better with an open furrow. I can look at spacing that way. I’m not standing on top of my head scratching, spending all this time trying to find it.”

The open furrow provides a clear window into the planter’s performance. Beyond spacing and row cleaner settings, it allows the grower to inspect for sidewall smearing—a problem that can severely limit root development if the soil is too tacky when the opening discs pass through. The visual check of an open furrow also tells the grower whether the down pressure is sufficient to maintain a consistent planting depth.

The Centering Challenge

Once the open furrow confirms that the row cleaners, meters, and depth settings are dialed in, the focus shifts to the closing system. Dowdy warns that even the best closing wheels can fail if they aren’t perfectly aligned over the seed.

He says standard V-press wheels are known to drift off-center. If they aren’t tracking directly over the seed trench, they don’t just fail to close the furrow—they actively change the planting depth at the final stage of the process.

“It doesn’t matter whose system it is, V-press wheels just do not like to stay centered,” he contends.

When the wheels drift off-center, they often pinch the furrow, leaving a raised ribbon of soil in their wake. This misalignment can create a less than desirable environment for the seed than what the grower intended.

A Systematic Start

Dowdy’s systematic approach—checking gauge wheels, setting opening discs, inspecting the open furrow, and finally calibrating the closing wheels—is designed to eliminate the variables that lead to uneven emergence. For Dowdy, the goal is to ensure that every seed is given the exact same opportunity to start strong, leading to the “picket fence” stands required for high yields.

By starting with an open furrow and systematically lowering the closing system only after everything else is verified, he says other corn growers can eliminate the guesswork that often leads to costly mistakes at planting.

“We’re not done, but this is the process of how we get started,” Dowdy says. “Next, we’ll let the closing wheels down, close that trench and see what we got.”

Use Hybrid Flex To Time Nitrogen Use: ‘When It’s Needed, You Better Be There’

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 20:49:13 GMT

“Know your hybrids” isn’t a new message. But Farm Journal Field Agronomist Missy Bauer is urging corn growers to take it a step further this season. She wants growers to understand how their hybrids flex under stress, so they can prioritize field management practices and time nitrogen (N) applications for maximum efficiency and ROI.

What Is Hybrid Flex—And Why Does It Matter?

Hybrid flex describes how a corn ear adjusts its size and development in response to plant populations, growing conditions and nutrient availability.

Some hybrids are “fixed” and perform best when grown in higher populations and with consistent nutrition to reach top-end yields. Other hybrids will “flex” considerably, with ears adjusting in length, girth (rows around), or kernel depth when stressed.

“All ears definitely are going to flex, just some flex more than others,” Bauer says.

Here are the three different kinds of flex that occur in corn hybrids and how N application timing impacts them:

1. Length Flex: The Sidedress Priority

Hybrids that flex in length are sensitive to mid- to late-season N application timing. If weather or logistics delay a sidedress or Y-drop application, these hybrids commonly “tip back,” losing kernels off the end of the ear. This can cost 20% or more of potential yield, notes Bauer.

“If the weather’s pushing us on Y-drop, which field are you going to make sure you get to first? Any hybrid that is a length flexor, you better be there,” she says.

2. Depth Flex: Late-Season N “Hogs”

Modern genetics have shifted hybrids toward developing deeper kernels with more starch. Twenty years ago, hybrids commonly produced 90,000 kernels per bushel; today, that number is often 60,000 to 65,000 kernels per bushel. In 2024, Bauer’s average was 62,000, with some dropping as low as 54,000.

“Those things are hogs,” Bauer says of hybrids that emphasize depth-of-fill. “These are the hybrids we’ve got to make sure we’re really taking care of late-season, or they are going to flex backward on us.”

To optimize performance, growers should ensure these hybrids receive late-season N and fungicide, especially in high-yield zones. Also, be aware that if these hybrids don’t have adequate late-season N, kernels will be smaller and lighter, dragging down test weight.

3. Girth Flex: Early-Season Opportunity

Hybrids that flex in girth (rows around the ear) are most affected by early-season conditions and nutrition. Factors like planting quality and the use of starter fertilizer are big needle-movers for these hybrids.

“We’ve seen this type of hybrid respond a lot to early-season N applications with a furrow-jet and things like that,” Bauer notes.

A Practical Plan For Nitrogen Timing

Bauer acknowledges that tracking how every hybrid flexes can be a tall order. “This is no easy task,” she told farmers during a recent meeting. “This is why you need to be paired up with a very, very good dealer.”

She suggests a three-step approach to matching genetics to a good nitrogen plan:

Classify your hybrids: Ask your seed dealer which hybrids you’re planting are “fixed” and which ones flex in length, girth or depth.
Match hybrids to field zones: Place high-response length or depth flexors on your best soils where you can justify mid- to late-season N applications. Use conservative, stress-tolerant hybrids on marginal ground.
Set application priorities: Use hybrid flex type to determine which fields get N applications first, especially when application windows are short.

Sound Principles To Adopt

Regardless of whether a hybrid is fixed or flexes, Bauer’s broader nitrogen message is that total N availability to hybrids matters. In dryland corn–soybean rotations, her current research points to total N use in the 225- to 250‑pound per acre range to optimize ROI. But where and when that nitrogen is applied increasingly depends on the genetics in the field.

Bauer advocates these three principles:

Band nitrogen in-season whenever possible
Surface-broadcast urea rates low on her list of preferred tools. She favors banded UAN solutions that deliver the N directly where corn roots can access it, especially in sidedress or Y-drop systems.
Always stabilize surface-applied N
With Y-drop or other surface bands, Bauer insists on using N stabilizers, even when ammonium thiosulfate (ATS) is in the mix. Generics are fine, she says, but notes that skipping stabilizers is a “false economy” when N is expensive, like it is currently.
Keep sulfur in the program
Bauer views ammonium sulfate as nonnegotiable in most corn programs and likes to see sulfur used in starter and in-season passes as well. Variable rate application nitrogen maps can be paired with sulfur placement to ensure high-demand zones have both nutrients.

Monitor N Use In-Season

Use in-season testing tools and weather to fine-tune N applications so corn “never has a bad day.” Bauer recommends growers walk through these questions as the season advances:

What has the weather done?
Years with a “mean June” — frequent, heavy rains that trigger leaching and denitrification — may demand extra N, especially on lighter soils or sand ridges.
What do nitrate soil tests say?
Some of Bauer’s clients pull in-season nitrate tests, particularly on irrigated fields or suspect zones. The numbers can confirm whether planned N use is holding up well or a sidedress application is in order.
What are tissue tests showing?
On pivot-irrigated acres, Bauer often samples the ear leaf at silking. If tissue N is short, she may recommend adding a few more gallons of UAN — sometimes with ATS — through the pivot or a late-season application.

Fall NH3 Emphasis Set the Stage For Ugly Corn Syndrome

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 17:00:32 GMT

Farmers who leaned hard on anhydrous ammonia last fall could be in for an unwelcome surprise this spring. Despite having enough N on the books, many fields of corn across the Midwest are likely to struggle soon after planting—thanks not to how much nitrogen was applied, but where it is located now in soils.

Ken Ferrie says the current situation came about as a result of prices and product choices that drove many growers to change their N programs last fall.

“Due to price, some guys cut out or pulled back on their MAP and DAP and AMS,” says Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist. “Many farmers put on their N—all their N—as anhydrous ammonia last fall due to that price difference between liquid and smoke.”

Those choices made financial sense at the time, but they also resulted in more nitrogen being placed deeper in the soil as NH₃ — away from where young corn plants can access it this spring.

“If we dropped the dry last fall and put all of our N needs on as anhydrous ammonia, we have nothing to fight the carbon penalty stage,” Ferrie says. “The NH₃band is too deep. It’s below where the ‘fence post rots off.’ Corn roots will have to grow to it to pick it up.”

That creates a Catch-22 situation.

“The challenge is, roots will need to grow to find the nitrogen, but the carbon penalty will have them stalled out,” Ferrie explains.

Ferrie shares the example of one grower he works with who normally applies 220 pounds of nitrogen per acre, split between dry fertilizer and anhydrous. This year, that grower dropped the dry program and instead applied 250 pounds of nitrogen as fall anhydrous.

“His question: Will he still need to worry about the carbon penalty with the extra 30 pounds of nitrogen he has on? The answer is, yes. His corn will stall out for a period this spring,” Ferrie says.

How Big Is the Yield Risk?

In Ferrie’s field research, the yield impact from corn crops stalling out early in the season is clear.

“With corn on soybeans, it’s not uncommon to see a 15- to 20-bushel loss per acre,” he says. “With the G and L1 hybrids, it could get to be 15 to 30 bushels. And it gets a lot worse in corn-on-corn.”

Despite those potential yield losses, he says some growers still downplay the issue.

“This grower says his neighbor told him he has corn turn yellow every year, and he says it never affects yield,” Ferrie recounts. “Well, if you don’t check it, you’ll never know. Ignorance is bliss.”

If yellow corn in the spring has become part of your farm’s “normal,” Ferrie offers a pointed warning on hybrid choice. “If yellow corn in the spring is your MO—you just don’t feel right without having some yellow corn—I would not plant G or L1 hybrids—those that flex in girth and early length,” he says.

Inches That Matter: Banding and Carbon Penalty Rates

Ferrie’s field studies in central Illinois help quantify the amount of nitrogen needed near the surface to pay the carbon penalty.

“Our studies here show us that it takes about 60 pounds of N, minimum, placed where the fence post rots off, for bean stubble to pay this carbon penalty, and a minimum of 100 pounds worth when we’re in corn-on-corn,” he says.

One common approach growers use to build that total amount is with surface-applied fertilizer.

“Typically, we take what was surface applied as our fall fertilizer—let’s say 30, 40 pounds—and then add more surface-applied spring nitrogen to it to get to that minimum for our crop rotation,” Ferrie explains.

Another option is strategically banding nutrients near the row with the planter or a row freshener. “When it comes to keeping small plants happy, inches matter,” Ferrie notes.

He emphasizes how close the bands need to be.

“Staying within 2” to 3” of the row makes a big difference, so those crown roots can find this N in that band before the carbon penalty kicks in,” Ferrie says. “Banding some N with the planter or row freshener allows you to cut these minimums in half.”

By putting nitrogen where young roots can reach it early—near the surface and close to the row—growers can help corn push through the ugly phase instead of being stuck and languishing in it.

Don’t Let The Neighbor Decide When You Roll

Nitrogen isn’t the only factor that will shape how well corn roots perform this year. Ferrie warns that spring tillage timing and traffic decisions will also have lasting consequences.

“As our thoughts turn to spring tillage, getting the seedbed ready, remember, 80% of the compaction calls I will go on this next summer will be caused by the first pass in the spring,” he says. “Yes, the one you’re getting ready to make.”

He cautions against letting social pressure dictate when to roll.

“Don’t let the coffee shop or your neighbor set when you go to the field,” Ferrie says. “Make the decision based on your own field conditions.”

You can listen to Ferrie’s complete recommendations on spring nitrogen use in his current Boots In The Field podcast, available at the link below:

Elevated Corn Rootworm Pressure Projected For The Midwest

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 19:51:42 GMT

The “billion-dollar bug” is sharpening its teeth for 2026. Bayer CropScience reports corn rootworm pressure could be significant this year across major corn growing areas.

Based on 2025 beetle capture data from 555 monitored fields, the company projects medium to high rootworm pressure for the upcoming growing season in much of the Midwest:

31% of the corn fields sampled in 2025 had counts exceeding the economic threshold of 2 beetles/trap/day, which was 2% higher than 2024 fields (29%), 22% less than 2023 and 2022 fields (53%), and 7% less than 2021 fields (38%).
46% of the continuous corn fields sampled in 2025 were above the economic threshold, which was up 3% from 2024 (43%), down 25% from 2023 (71%), down 28% from 2022 (74%), and down 6% from 2021 (52%).
17% of the first-year corn fields in 2025 were above the economic threshold, which was 1% higher than 2024 (16%), 3% higher than 2023 (14%), up 7% from 2022 (10%), and equal to 2021 (17%).

On a broad scale, Bayer reports that rootworm larval populations — and consequently the risk potential from all CRW species this season — are likely to be elevated in fields in northern Illinois, south central Illinois, western Iowa, eastern, southeastern, and southwestern Nebraska, eastern and southeastern Wisconsin, and northern Colorado. Read the full report here .

Rootworm larvae feeding on corn roots compromise the plants’ structural integrity and can slice yields in affected fields by as much as 45%.

2026 corn rootworm pressure forecast based on 2025 beetle capture in 555 fields in CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI, and PA.

(Maps: Bayer, Beetle Monitoring Project from 2024 and 2025)

How Two CRW Variants Beat The Corn-Soybean Rotation

“CRW beetles are very, very adaptable to many of the things that we throw at them,” says Ashley Dean, Iowa State University Extension field crop entomologist.

She says CRW is forcing many row-crop growers to rewrite their management playbooks to address the pest better, especially variant populations.

Dean reports that the “variant” label describes two distinct genetic adaptations of corn rootworm:

Northern Corn Rootworm (Extended Diapause): These small green beetles have learned to hit the “snooze” button. Instead of hatching the following spring, their eggs remain dormant in the soil for two or more years—sometimes up to five. This allows larvae to emerge exactly when a field rotates back to corn.
Western Corn Rootworm (The Soybean Variant): These yellow-and-black striped beetles have developed a behavioral shift. Instead of staying in cornfields to lay eggs, females migrate to soybean fields to deposit them. When that field is planted to corn the next season, the larvae are already waiting in the soil. “These variants have essentially lost their fidelity to corn when they’re laying eggs,” Dean notes in a webinar.

These maps give approximate locations for western and northern corn rootworm variants.

(Iowa State University Extension)

A Multi-Pronged Management Strategy

Addressing corn rootworm effectively requires farmers use a localized, field-by-field strategy, says Jim Robinson, chief technology officer for Rob-See-Co. Because geography, soil, and history vary, growers should work with agronomists to tailor traits and stewardship practices to their specific acres rather than relying solely on regional forecasts, he advises.

Here are four additional recommendations Extension and industry advise farmers use in areas with expected high populations of CRW this season:

Make Root Scouting Non-Negotiable: Dig and rate roots in every field—continuous or rotated—to understand your baseline pressure. For assessing damage, use the interactive node-injury scale from Iowa State available here .
Consider Longer Rotations: In areas with heavy Northern corn rootworm extended diapause, adding a third crop like oats can break the cycle, Dean says.
Strategic Use of Bt and Insecticides: While Western corn rootworm has shown resistance to all four Bt traits in some areas, these tools still have a place. However, Iowa State suggests choosing either a Bt hybrid or a soil-applied insecticide rather than using both as “insurance” unless pressure is extreme.

To help farmers make informed decisions, Chris DiFonzo, professor & field crops entomologist at Michigan State University, provides the Handy Bt Trait Table for U.S. Corn Production , a valuable resource that outlines available Bt traits, their targets, and other key information.

Leave a Check Strip: When testing a new transgenic hybrid or insecticide in first-year corn, leave an untreated strip. This is the only way to verify if the treatment provided a return on investment.

How Can You Boost Corn Yield Potential? 'Win The First 10 Days'

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 21:50:13 GMT

Randy Dowdy calls the corn plant a factory and the root system its receiving department—and this spring, Dowdy’s factory opened for business in just six days. The benchmark is one he and fellow high-yield grower David Hula say is critical for top-end yield.

“The crop came up in six days,” reports Dowdy, who farms in Brooks County, Ga. “I planted at 2.5” to 2.75” to try and maintain a full 2-inch germination depth. The weather cooperated. The forecast was accurate. And now we’ve got some really good root development below-ground.”

As temperatures dropped to around 32°F and hovered 10 or so days after planting, Dowdy admitted he was “pessimistically optimistic” about potential yield drag. The corn growing point was still safely below ground, so outright loss of the crop wasn’t his concern. What he wanted to know was a bit subtler: How much yield can cold weather take “off the table” when a crop is just getting started?

That question is at the heart of why uniform, rapid emergence matters so much to Dowdy and Hula. Both men argue that if you’re serious about corn yields and return on investment, the first 10 days after planting are critical.

“We’ve never had high-yielding corn when it’s taken more than 10 days for corn to come out of the ground,” says Hula, who farms near Charles City, Va. “You’ve got to realize that in that six-day event when that crop is just coming out of the ground, it’s not using any excess energy.”

That’s important, Hula contends, because the seed only has so much internal energy to work with.

“We say corn’s got enough seed energy to get to V3,” he says. “But if it’s sitting in the ground for so long, it’s burning too much energy. Then, when it comes out and starts photosynthesizing at V3, we’ve already lost some of that energy. With quicker emergence, like Randy had, we don’t lose that energy.”

The takeaway Hula and Dowdy tell farmers to keep in mind is three key things: plant into fit conditions, favor warming trends in the forecast and respect soil temperature.

Stay Focused On Doing The Basics Well

“Everybody’s ‘fit’ is different,” Hula acknowledges. “But warm soil and warming trends—back to the basics—that’s where it starts.”
Keeping the basics in mind, Dowdy says he saw them come together to deliver even emergence of his corn crop.

“We’ve been taking some pictures, and we’ve got some really good root development,” he says. “Some of the things we’re doing in the furrow and 2 x 2 seem to be paying off. We’re building a tremendous root system as we speak.”

Dowdy is unapologetically fixated on roots. It’s a major reason he is careful about buffering the salt load in the furrow to protect fragile root hairs on the corn.

“We’re trying to make sure that we’re not pruning any of those fine root hairs and root development, especially when that plant’s transitioning from seed energy to root uptake,” Dowdy reports.

He says that transition coincides with one of the most critical windows in corn development: the rows around determination.
“People say, ‘How important are the early roots?’ Critical,” Dowdy says. “At V3 to V4 is when rows around are being determined—when they’re being initiated. What that root system does early on is a big deal.”

He uses a simple analogy to drive the point home.

“The plant is a factory and its root system is the receiving department. The larger it is, the more shipments it can take,” notes Dowdy, who says he heard the analogy from another farmer.

Evaluate In-Furrow Products Carefully, Prevent Burn

Hula says he has watched too many growers lean on “traditional” in-furrow products without understanding the long-term potential tradeoffs for root health—especially in dry or marginal soil conditions.

“[Some farmers] talk about using 10-34-0 in the trench as starter. Clearly that’s a cheaper form of fertilizer. If they looked at what they were doing compared to a low-salt program, they might see they’re not getting the full benefit.”

On Hula’s farm, 10-34-0 has largely been replaced by low-salt in-furrow products designed to enhance nutrient uptake and support early root development.

“We don’t even use 10-34-0,” he says. “We use a product like Relay in the trench, which is just kind of enhancing the plant’s ability to extract that phosphorus from the soil, with some other beneficial things—zinc, humic acids—mixed in. We see that root development.”

The danger with starters containing a significant amount of salt becomes painfully clear, he adds, when conditions turn dry.

“In the Delta, I’ve seen guys use 10-34-0 in the trench and dry-seed their crop,” Hula says. “They end up replanting because of the salt load in there.”

Dowdy echoes that concern, which is why buffering salt in the furrow is a central part of his program. Both men argue that in today’s cost and yield environment, the “cheaper” product in the box isn’t always cheaper when you factor in stand loss, root pruning and replanting.

Corn growers across the country will face their own versions of cold snaps, wet soils, dry planting windows, and various input decisions this season. But Dowdy and Hula emphasize one principle stands above the noise: If you want top-end corn yields, the crop has to start fast, even and strong. Everything else—biology, nutrition, crop protection—builds on that foundation.

Listen to Hula and Dowdy’s recommendations detailed during their recent Breaking Barriers With R&D discussion on AgriTalk here.

What the Iran War Means for Spring Fertilizer Supplies

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 03:20:21 GMT

The military action with Iran has led to the virtual shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting shipping routes and curbing supplies of fertilizer around the world.

Josh Linville, vice president of fertilizer for StoneX posted on X last Friday that due to the Middle East conflict, April urea costs were up 42% from the previous week, while NOLA April urea was 30% higher.

Fertilizer Supplies Threatened

However, the inability to move fertilizer products like urea through the Strait of Hormuz is also threatening spring supplies.

So the question is will farmers have enough fertilizer for spring planting?

Or will some farmers end up having to switch acreage from corn to another less nutrient intensive crop like soybeans?

Upper Midwest Fertilizer Supplies Look Good

The good news is in the upper Midwest, where it takes the longest to get product in place, fertilizer supplies are in relatively good shape.

Company officials with Mosaic and CHS says they have 85% to 90% of product already in warehouses, with more rail cars in transit. However, they admit the last of at least the urea supplies could be a tough lift.

Many Farmers Pre-Booked Fertilizer

As Manville, North Dakota farmer Scott Johnson prepares for the 2026 planting season, he’s glad he was proactive on his fertilizer plans, especially as prices surge tied to the Iran war.

“I’ve got all my fertilizer booked already, so I’m not super concerned with that.”

And fortunately his CHS retailer in Grand Forks reassured him they have fertilizer in place.

Johnson explains, “They said they’ve got a good majority of their trains in the warehouse already. They got to bring in two more in season, but they’ve got to. a lion’s share of it already on site. So having it bought or booked and knowing it’s already here, I’m not as concerned.”

CHS Says Spring Fertilizer Fill at 85% to 90%

Officials at the CHS Ag Industry Day in Grand Forks told farmers fertilizer supplies are mostly in place, except a small amount of urea they source from the Middle East.

Rick Dusek, executive vice president with CHS says, “So there is a gap. Fortunately it happened towards the end of the the the season not at the beginning. So, I think we’re we’re in pretty good shape, but it’s not all here.”

So CHS is looking at alternative sources for those last tons he explains.

“The prices have risen now where what other origins that manufacture urea you know are they able to fill that gap or not and it’s still a little bit early to see but markets have a way of working, especially when prices jump it it makes people take notice and there’ll probably be some changes and flows. So, we’re working through that as we speak and it’ll take a little bit of time to figure it out.”

CHS Still Offering Fertilizer Bids

While global urea prices rose $120 to $130 last week, CHS retail locations in the Upper Midwest are still offering bids.

Chris Kolstoe, director of operations, agronomy with CHS in Warren, Minnesota says, “We’ve still got we’ve got a supply plan in place. So, we’re able to still keep offering, but the price isn’t great.”

Less fall fertilizer was applied in 2025, but many farmers in the region pre-booked fertilizer, which helps.

He adds, “So, we’re between 80% and 85%, which is not uncommon going at this time of the year.”

Mosaic Not Hurt as Hard

Fertilizer companies like Mosaic aren’t being hit as hard because of their product portfolio.

Sherry Koch, senior retail sales manager with the Mosaic company says, “Fortunately, we we are a phosphate and a potash company. And so, a lot of it doesn’t affect us maybe as much as some other companies out there.

And while spring supplies will be tight, Koch says the upper Midwest has a lot of product in storage.

“So, a lot of the warehouses in this neck of the woods are pretty full. And so, we’ve been fortunate to be able to ship throughout the winter. We’ve been fortunate to keep a lot of our tons in a domestic, keep it domestic. And so, we’ve we’re feeling pretty good about where things are at,” she adds.

However, if the Iran war continues to disrupt shipping the next two weeks getting the remainder of spring fertilizer needs to farmers may be tight.

Beat the Carbon Penalty With Strategic Nitrogen Use

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 17:35:04 GMT

Managing nitrogen in corn effectively is not simply a matter of hitting a total pounds-per-acre target. How, when and where you apply that nitrogen can dramatically affect both crop performance and how efficiently each pound is used – especially when navigating the carbon penalty, says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

Understanding the Carbon Penalty

When soil warms in the spring, microbial organisms begin breaking down the previous season’s corn stalks. Because corn residue has a high carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (60:1), these microbes consume nitrogen as a food source to fuel the decomposition process.

During this phase, nitrogen is tied up by microbes and rendered unavailable to your corn crop, explains Ferrie. For example, a 215-bushel corn crop produces 6 tons of dry residue, requiring approximately 90 lbs. of nitrogen just to feed the microbes.

A telltale sign of the carbon penalty is yellowing leaves between the V2 and V6 growth stages. In fields where the nutritional gap is most severe, the crop is often referred to as being in the ‘ugly corn’ growth phase, characterized by stunted plants and reduced yield potential.

Establishing a Nitrogen “Floor”

To prevent your crop from stalling during the carbon penalty, Ferrie recommends establishing a minimum nitrogen floor. This will not be your total seasonal budget for nitrogen, but rather the amount required to carry young corn plants through the immobilization period.

“In our studies, we have found here in Illinois that it takes about a minimum of 60 pounds of N in corn after beans and 100 pounds in corn-on-corn or high-carbon cover fields to keep the corn from slowing down during the carbon penalty stage,” Ferrie explains.

To be effective, this “floor” of nitrogen must be accessible near the soil surface for young plants.

Planter-applied nitrogen is highly effective because it is concentrated in a band near the seed row. Ferrie notes that banded nitrogen has a “2x effect” when paying the carbon penalty.

“So, 30 pounds of planter-banded nitrogen behaves like roughly 60 pounds of broadcast nitrogen and can help keep the plant growing well through the carbon penalty stage,” he says.

Ferrie cautions against relying on anhydrous to counter the carbon penalty. “Anhydrous knifed in 7” to 9” deep, doesn’t count due to its location or distance from the root system. Corn has to grow roots down to the anhydrous to be able to pick that N up and it may be caught in the carbon penalty before it gets there,” says Ferrie.

He adds that ESN (Environmentally Smart Nitrogen) is also inadequate for the carbon penalty because its release timing is too slow for the early-demand window

Efficiency vs. Total Rate Reduction

While planter-banded nitrogen is highly efficient at protecting early growth, Ferrie warns against overestimating how much it allows you to cut from your total seasonal rate.

“While planter-banded nitrogen is twice as efficient as broadcast to get you through the carbon penalty, it is not efficient enough to cut your total N rate by 30 pounds,” Ferrie says. “With planter N you’re not stopping net immobilization. You’re just keeping the plant happy while net immobilization is happening.”

However, Ferrie says there are savings to be had. He estimates in-season banding can improve overall nitrogen efficiency by about 10 percent.

“If you were to band 30 pounds with the planter and apply 120 pounds sidedress, that 150 pounds would act like 165 pounds. So yes, you could cut your rate by 15 pounds in this case, and end up with as good or better outcome than broadcasting 165 pounds in the spring,” he says.

Why the Iran Conflict Could Shrink U.S. Corn Plantings This Spring

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 21:45:43 GMT

At first glance, tensions in the Middle East might seem far removed from the planting decisions farmers across the Midwest are making right now. But in today’s interconnected global markets, disruptions in oil flows, fertilizer supplies and geopolitical alliances can quickly translate into changes in crop economics at home.

As the situation unfolded over the past week, analysts say the reaction across commodity markets illustrated just how closely agriculture is tied to global energy and political dynamics. While commodity markets ended the week on a high note, farmers are now feeling the impact in Iran with not only higher fertilizer prices, but also the concern they may not even be able to find enough fertilizer for spring.

Fertilizer Availability and Affordability

Those economic pressures are already building across farm country.

If the conflict drags on, Dan Basse, founder and president of AgResource company, believes fertilizer availability and affordability could become a major global issue and impact crops already in the ground.

“I was just back from Brazil, and the Brazilians are very concerned about getting enough fertilizer at the right price for their upcoming spring seeding campaign, which starts in early September,” Basse says.

Brazil’s agricultural system depends heavily on imported fertilizer, making it particularly sensitive to global supply disruptions.

“That would be the first country that it affects,” Basse says. “A little bit of effect for India and around the Southeast Asian countries. But Brazil needs to buy a lot of fertilizer.”

In the United States, the fertilizer story is already beginning to influence conversations about spring planting decisions.

Many farmers had delayed fertilizer purchases through the winter, hoping prices would decline before planting season arrived. In some cases, they were waiting on financing or government payments before committing to those input costs.

“Unfortunately, the timing of it with this war couldn’t come at a worse time,” says Chip Nellinger, founder and partner of Blue Reef Agri-Marketing. “I think Dan makes a good point that the Brazilian farmer fertilizes a lot of those bean acres down there. They really rely on that and they need to make purchases.”

But the U.S. situation is slightly different — and potentially more vulnerable to sudden price spikes.

“Unfortunately, the U.S. producer, I think in some cases waited until late winter, early spring hoping that nitrogen fertilizer prices would come lower,” Nellinger says. “They initially started to come lower, and they were seeing the benefit of that.”

Then the geopolitical situation changed with fertilizer prices shooting higher.

“It’s a wheat story as well,” Nellinger notes. “There’s a lot of nitrogen that needs applied on U.S. wheat acres here over the coming three or four months ahead of us.”

This is the list of urea production tons around the world that are "in danger". In war. Stuck behind the Strait. Not exporting. Low operating rate.

Excluding Russia who is exporting well, the remainder of that list combine for nearly 24M tons of urea exported per year. pic.twitter.com/8i65xczfL0
— Josh Linville (@JLinvilleFert) March 6, 2026

But the most significant planting implications may fall on corn.

Corn is far more fertilizer-intensive than soybeans, particularly when it comes to nitrogen. When fertilizer prices rise sharply, the relative profitability of soybeans often improves quickly. That dynamic was already influencing acreage expectations even before the conflict escalated.

“Price alone with what new-crop beans had been doing was shifting some acres as it was,” Nellinger says.

Corn Acres at Risk As Conflict Continues

Now the fertilizer shock could accelerate that shift, according to Nellinger.

“Now with the fertilizer situation and the effects of the war, I think you could see additional acres move out of corn to beans,” he says. “Particularly on the fringe areas.”

He doesn’t expect the shift to dramatically alter planting plans in the highest-producing Corn Belt counties.

“Maybe not so much in the 50 or 60 million acres right in the heart of the I-states with the highest-yielding ground,” he says. “Certainly away from that area, it could be a definite impact on acreage.”

The satiation has caused Basse to already adjust his acreage projections accordingly.

“I’ve taken my corn planting estimate down about 1 million to 1 million and a half acres relative to the war and fertilizer,” he says.

Before the conflict escalated, his projection called for roughly 94.5 million acres of corn.

“So I was at 94.5,” Basse says. “Now [I’m] down around 93 to 93.5.”

At the same time, he’s increasing expectations for soybean plantings.

“I’ve taken my bean acreage estimate up to 86.5 or 87,” he says. “So, we have made adjustments.”

Still, Basse emphasizes fertilizer prices are only one factor in the complex decision-making process farmers face each spring.

“I do think fertilization prices are very important for the farmer heading into the spring,” he says. “Weather will still be more important, but that’s a place to start anyway.”

And the full extent of any acreage shift may take months to fully understand.

“I’m fearful we may not find out about this until June,” Basse says. “I’m not sure the March NASS report is going to catch it right off the bat.”

Planting decisions often evolve as conditions change during the spring season.

“We may have to wait a few weeks to get into it before we really understand the breadth of the switching that could be going on,” he says.

Ultimately, the long-term impact on agriculture will depend largely on how long the geopolitical tensions persist.

“Obviously we’re seeing the energy situation,” Nellinger says. “Longer term, I’m not so sure.”

Much of the global focus right now remains on reopening critical energy shipping lanes and restoring stability to oil markets.

“I think the first item of business, in the United States’ mind, is going to be getting that Strait of Hormuz open and flowing again. That’s got to be high on the list,” Nellinger says.

If that happens quickly, the agricultural ripple effects may prove temporary.

“I think it can be a temporary situation here,” Nellinger says, “assuming that it’s over in a matter of weeks and not years.

Fertilizer Prices Spike and Supply Concerns Grow

Nitrogen fertilizer production is heavily tied to energy costs. When energy prices rise, fertilizer costs often rise with them. That connection is especially important this time of year, when farmers are finalizing spring input purchases and locking in crop plans.

And in the past week, fertilizer markets have reacted sharply.

According to Josh Linville, vice president of fertilizer at StoneX Group, prices in some markets have surged dramatically in a matter of hours. Urea is one key example.

“I’ve actually heard prices there are up over $100 a ton in one 24-hour period,” Linville says. “And we’re not even sure that’s even available still.”

That type of price spike is unusual even for fertilizer markets, which are known for volatility. But Linville says the concern now goes beyond just higher prices. There are growing fears about actual supply shortages if the conflict disrupts global fertilizer trade flows for too long.

To understand why, he points to the concentration of fertilizer production around the world.

“But urea, it’s the more visible market that we have out there,” Linville says.

Linville says when you look at the top 10 global exporters of urea around the world, many of those exporters are located in regions now directly or indirectly affected by geopolitical instability.

“Russia — do you feel real confident that Russia’s always going to be there for us? I certainly don’t,” Linville says.
“Qatar, Iran, Egypt — we start to talk about Egypt yesterday. Everybody’s focused on the Middle East.”

Even countries not directly involved in the conflict could see production disrupted because of energy shortages.

“Israel is taking their gas fields offline because of the fear of retaliatory attacks,” Linville explains. “Those gas fields are what feed Egyptian manufacturers, and when their gas values get low, they shut it down.”

Other key fertilizer exporters also sit in the same region.

“Oman, Saudi Arabia’s in the region, Algeria’s in Egypt,” he says.

We have all been focused on nitrogen, but do not sleep on tight phosphate supplies:

China - not exporting until August
Saudi Arabia - locked behind the Strait
U.S. - still low 60% operating rate

If nitrogen markets are bad, phosphate is worse...much worse. pic.twitter.com/Q7Kv3FVJPr
— Josh Linville (@JLinvilleFert) March 6, 2026

At the same time, global fertilizer supplies were already constrained before the conflict began.

“China should be a top four, top three exporter,” Linville notes. “But their government was already stopping exports in order to keep those tons at home.”

Europe has also struggled to maintain full production levels after losing access to cheap natural gas supplies.

“Europe largely isn’t on here, but because they shut off those cheap gas flows from Russia, their production rate’s about 75% of normal,” Linville says. “That’s millions of tons of urea not being produced per year.”

Those constraints mean the global fertilizer market has very little cushion if supply disruptions worsen.

When High Prices Become Demand Destruction

If the conflict continues to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Linville says the industry could move from higher prices into outright shortages.

“If this thing is to stay as it is and the Strait of Hormuz remains shut out, we need to start talking about a limited amount of nitrogen units out there, we need to talk about a limited amount of phosphate units that are out there,” he says.

In a free market, prices rise when supply can’t keep up with demand. But Linville says fertilizer markets are now entering a phase where price increases are meant to do something very specific: force demand lower.

“When we don’t have enough supply for the demand that’s out there, you can’t fix it with supply, which is the case right now with fertilizer,” he says “The price ratchets up higher and higher and higher. It’s trying to kill demand.”

That demand destruction often shows up in agriculture through crop switching.

“That’s 100% what the phosphate market and the nitrogen market is trying to do today,” Linville says. “It is trying to pressure that farmer to the point where they break and say, fine, I’ll put on beans. I’ll put on something else.”

As more farmers look at options, and could opt to not spend the money to plant corn, it could have a major impact on planting decisions this spring.

Corn Acres Looked Ready to Expand — Then Costs and Conflict Complicated the Outlook

The situation this week is a reminder how quickly things can change. Just days ago, the outlook for U.S. corn acreage looked fairly straightforward.

Heading into Commodity Classic, much of the conversation centered on the possibility that farmers could plant even more corn than the 94 million acres currently projected by USDA.

That expectation held even though production costs remain historically high. Corn is one of the most input-intensive crops farmers grow, and fertilizer prices have been elevated heading into the 2026 planting season.

But economists say acreage decisions aren’t always driven by input costs alone.

According to Krista Swanson, chief economist for the National Corn Growers Association, corn farmers are already dealing with a difficult financial environment, even before factoring in new market volatility.

“Negative margins again for 2026,” Swanson says. “This is the fourth consecutive year that we are looking at negative net returns for corn on average across the United States.”

Those losses are significant. On average, she estimates farmers could see losses of roughly $100 per acre growing corn this year.

“And we’re looking at losses of about $100 an acre,” Swanson explains. “And as we think about that, these negative returns have been growing over these four consecutive years as well.”

Farmers are accustomed to navigating occasional down cycles, but extended stretches of losses can create much deeper financial strain.

“We talk a lot about how farmers can often manage a couple bad years,” Swanson says. “But when we start to get to year No. 4, that makes it really challenging in terms of cash flow and liquidity.”

Even so, high production costs alone may not be enough to significantly reduce corn acreage.

Swanson says that’s largely because farmers faced a similar cost environment just one year ago — and still planted a large corn crop.

“That’s something I’ve been thinking about, will production costs make farmers turn away from corn because it’s one of the more costly crops to produce?” she says. “But I would have said the same thing a year ago.”

Looking back at last season, production costs are actually very similar to where they stand today. Yet, farmers planted nearly 100 million acres of corn in 2025.

That’s one reason USDA’s acreage projections remain relatively strong. The agency considers multiple economic signals when estimating planted acres, including crop price relationships.

“That’s probably why last year is part of the modeling that USDA does to project 94 million corn acres,” she explains.

In particular, analysts closely watch the corn-to-soybean price ratio, which plays a major role in determining which crop farmers choose to plant.

“They consider where the corn-to-soybean price ratio is, the other price ratios of other crops,” Swanson says.

Corn and soybeans compete for many of the same acres across the Midwest, meaning small changes in price relationships can shift planting decisions. Still, last year offers an important reminder.

“Despite that high production cost, we still planted so many corn acres,” Swanson says . “So I don’t know that that will be a restraint.”

Swanson said during Commodity Classic that the buzz among corn farmers was not to make a big switch away from corn, which means she said it was likely U.S. corn farmers could plant north of 94 million acres in 2026. Now with the fertilizer situation, analysts argue U.S. corn acreage is only trending lower.

Whether that remains true in 2026 could depend on how input costs, and global events, continue to evolve in the weeks ahead.

NASS Concerned Criticism of USDA Reports Could Keep Farmers From Completing March Acreage Survey

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 16:14:26 GMT

As acreage surveys begin arriving in farm mailboxes across rural America, skepticism about USDA production numbers is still echoing through coffee shops, grain elevators and market commentary. Farmers, economists and segments of the grain trade have openly questioned recent estimates, particularly after sharp market reactions to the January report and a large uptick in USDA’s corn acreage estimates in 2025.

For the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), that skepticism presents a deeper concern than short-term volatility. If doubts about accuracy discourage participation in farmer surveys, it could weaken the very foundation of the reports critics are scrutinizing.

Lance Honig, chair of the Agricultural Statistics Board at NASS, says as the 2026 acreage survey collection period ramps up, farmer participation is more important than ever, but he’s concerned fewer farmers may participate, especially if they’re frustrated.

Mounting Doubts After Big Acreage Revisions

According to reporting from Reuters , USDA, which has been long viewed as the global gold standard for crop data, is facing mounting doubts about the reliability of its estimates. The scrutiny intensified after deep staff losses within the department and a sharp upward revision in harvested corn acreage. That’s caused confidence in USDA reporting to erode.

Farmers, traders and food manufacturers worldwide rely on monthly USDA reports on production, supplies and demand to anticipate price direction and inventory levels. When those numbers shift significantly, the ripple effects move quickly through commodity markets.

At issue is how dramatically USDA’s corn acreage estimate evolved over the past season.

In June, USDA estimated farmers planted 95.2 million acres of corn, up 5% from the prior year. At the time, plantings were nearly complete, which gave many in the trade confidence in the estimate. But by August, USDA raised its planted acreage estimate by more than 2%, contributing to a 3% drop in corn prices. Another upward revision followed in September.

By January, USDA estimated corn plantings at 98.8 million acres, 3.8% higher than its initial June estimate. For some farmers and analysts, the size of that swing was unsettling.

“Given the turmoil and turnover at the USDA at the time, there were already concerns about data quality, with the miss from June to final doing everything to reinforce those fears,” Angie Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting, told Reuters. “A swing of this size from June to final plantings has never happened before, making many feel it is more difficult to adequately manage risk.”

According to Farm Journal’s January Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor , released at Top Producer Summit , the majority of economists, producers and retailers say their confidence in USDA reports has declined compared to past years.

68% of economists say they are less confident in USDA reports.
73% of producers say their confidence has declined.
78% of retailers report waning trust.

Some producers told Reuters they did not understand why USDA could not produce a more accurate assessment in June, especially with planting largely complete.

That context is now shaping how farmers view the acreage survey currently underway.

How the Acreage and Harvested Numbers Evolved

Honig says it’s important to understand how USDA constructs those estimates.

USDA based its June acreage estimate on surveys of nearly 68,000 farmers. Those responses were used to estimate planted acres and, initially, harvested acres. Farmers were surveyed again in December, and updated harvested acreage results were incorporated into the January report.

“In January, it made sense to increase the number of acres harvested for grain because poor weather had not hindered farmers,” Honig explains. “Plantings were larger than previous years, and the number of acres harvested for silage stays relatively unchanged annually.”

Silage acres tend to remain fairly stable from year to year. If total plantings rise significantly and weather does not prevent harvest, the share of acres harvested for grain can logically increase as well.

Still, the magnitude of the revision has prompted USDA to take a closer look.

As part of its review, Honig says USDA and NASS will confirm its procedures functioned as intended. But contrary to some media reports, USDA NASS does a review every year.

“We actually always reevaluate,” Honig says. “We do hundreds of surveys a year, and every time we finish a process, we look back and say, ‘All right, is there anything that first off went wrong? Is there anything that didn’t go the way it was supposed to?’ You always want to make sure you rule that out.”

The review process, he emphasizes, is not reactionary — it is routine. But unusual outcomes, like historically large acreage revisions, provide an opportunity to refine methodology.

“When you plant the largest number of acres in a long, long time, it changes the dynamics of how your harvested and planted relationship works,” Honig says. “We’re going to take a hard look at that and say, ‘Okay, do we need to do something a little bit different when we get these extremely large planted acreage numbers, whether it’s corn, soybeans or any other crop, moving forward?’”

Acreage Survey Collection Is Already Underway

All of that makes the current acreage survey especially significant. USDA’s March acreage survey, which will then be turned into USDA’s Prospective Plantings report released at the end of March, is already hitting mailboxes.

“We’re basically in the middle of it now,” Honig says. “What we’re looking at right now is trying to capture farmers’ planting intentions.”

Surveys have already been in farmers’ mailboxes for about a week. As February closes, NASS is increasing follow-up efforts by phone and through on-farm visits.

“Now’s when we’re really going to start doing some follow-up via the phone, maybe send some folks out to the farms where they’re at and capture some information that way,” Honig says. “We’ll be doing that for probably the next three weeks. It’s a fairly long window because we’re looking at 60,000 to 70,000 farmers we’re trying to get a hold of.”

While private analysts are already publishing acreage guesses based on price ratios and profitability projections, Honig stresses USDA’s March Prospective Plantings report will be the first farmer-reported indication of actual intent.

“Obviously there are some numbers floating around out there already,” he says. “But they’re largely based on what it seems like economics might suggest are going to happen. So this is really the first opportunity to hear from the farmers themselves, ‘What are you actually planning to do this season?’”

Participation: The Critical Variable

Honig acknowledges response rates have grown more challenging in recent years.

“I don’t think it’s any secret that getting farmers to respond has been a little bit more challenging recently,” he says. “And any time you’ve got a little bit of controversy surrounding some numbers, that raises the concern level a little.”

That’s where his concern lies. If skepticism over prior revisions leads to lower participation, the quality of future estimates could suffer.

“Honestly, I would say this is the time to double down,” Honig says. “Because if there’s concerns about how accurate the numbers are, there’s several things we can do to always make things better, but the biggest thing is if we can get more and better information coming in the door. There’s no question that’s going to make a better product going out the door at the end of March.”

Lessons from the 2025 Crop Season: Bigger Acres, Resilient Yields

As the 2025 growing season wrapped up, Hong says it was a year full of lessons, from managing historically large acreage to understanding how modern genetics are changing the resilience of crops.

Honig points to the challenges and insights of planting record acreage in 2025 and the impact that can have on an overall yield, which proved to be a record in 2025.

“When you plant the largest number of acres in a long, long time, it changes the dynamics of how your harvested and planted relationship works. We’re going to take a hard look at that and say, ‘Do we need to do something a little bit different when we get these extremely large planted acres, whether it’s corn, soybeans or any other crop moving forward.’ That’s a marker we can leverage to make sure we do an even better job in the future,” Honig says.

Looking across the Corn Belt, the analyst highlights high yields weren’t limited to traditional “I states.”

“We definitely saw some problems through the heart of the Corn Belt, but it is not all about the I-states. Tremendous yields north and south more than made up for some of those challenges,” he says.

He also notes the role of modern crop genetics in mitigating stress.

“With these advances, some problems don’t seem to have quite the impact they used to because the crop is much more resilient than it was in past years, especially from a drought perspective. Some of the dry conditions we saw in 2025 — if that had happened 10 years ago, it would have been a completely different story. We need to focus on what today’s genetics are telling us, not what a similar situation 10, 15 or 20 years ago would have meant.”

A Defining Moment for Trust in the Data

The current acreage survey arrives at a pivotal moment. Global grain markets are tightly linked, price volatility remains elevated and confidence in official data is being publicly debated.

USDA’s numbers influence everything from local basis levels to export competitiveness and crop insurance guarantees. But those numbers begin with farmer-reported data. For Honig, the message is straightforward.

If farmers want the reports to reflect what is happening in their fields and communities, participation is the most direct way to ensure it.

In a season defined by scrutiny, the strength of USDA’s next set of estimates may hinge less on methodology debates and more on how many producers choose to answer the survey now sitting in their mailboxes.

When Weird Corn Ears Wreck the Bottom Line

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 19:58:07 GMT

Abnormal corn ears may look like a cosmetic problem, but depending on the severity, they can deliver a significant hit to yield, reports Osler Ortez, Ohio State University corn specialist.

“If a field is managed for 200-bushel corn but only delivers 100 bushels because abnormal ears dominate, then every pound of nitrogen, every inch of irrigation and every pass you make across that field becomes much harder to justify,” he says.

Yield losses from abnormal corn ears can range from 35% to 91% in affected plants, with typical field-wide impacts often trailing lower, Ortez reports.

For reference, an “average” corn ear generally produces 16 kernel rows with about 800 kernels per ear, according to the Iowa State Extension.

Irregularities such as zipper ears (shown below), earless plants or multiple ears, reduce grain yield through poor kernel set, abortion or reduced kernel weight.

A common abnormality called zipper ear is caused by kernel abortion or failed pollination. The issue is often triggered by severe environmental stress during early grain fill or pollination from factors including drought, high heat or nutrient deficiency.

(R. L. Nielsen, professor emeritus and Purdue University Corn Specialist, retired)

Ortez emphasizes no single factor explains abnormal ear development. It’s nearly always the result of an interaction between three factors that corn researchers refer to as GEM:
G — Genetics (hybrid)

E — Environment (weather, stress)

M — Management (practices)

He adds that understanding when the stress is happening, the timing of it, is also important. For instance, early-season stress can limit ear initiation and potential ear number, while midseason issues impact pollination and kernel set. Late-season stress reduces kernel fill and overall weight.

Strategic Management Levers

While the weather can’t be controlled, Ortez says understanding the GEM interaction gives corn growers more leverage than they realize.

He lists three management decisions that can help growers mitigate the risk of abnormal ear development:

1. Evaluate the genetics: Treating hybrid selection as a defensive tool against ear problems — right alongside disease tolerance and standability — is one of the clearest ways to lower risk.

2. Pick a recommended seeding rate: In Nebraska field trials, Ortez observed abnormal ears increased at both ends of the seeding rate spectrum.

“Chasing a few extra bushels with aggressive populations, especially on drought-prone or otherwise stressed acres, often backfired when stress hit at the wrong time,” he notes. Conversely, pulling populations too low also created conditions where ear development went off track.

3. Consider the planting date: Researchers found planting hybrids outside the optimal window — either very early into cold, wet conditions or very late into heat and moisture stress — made it more likely sensitive growth stages would line up with damaging stress. Matching planting date to local recommendations and the strengths of a given hybrid proved to be an important way to reduce those risky overlaps.

Ultimately, by tuning into GEM, farmers can better safeguard their investments. As Ortez points out, the more sides of that triangle a farmer can stabilize or improve, the less likely a season’s worth of hard work and inputs will be undone by a field of problem ears.

Hear Ortez share more of his research on abnormal ear development in a recent podcast sponsored by the Crop Protection Network.

Smart Strategies for Topdressing Dry Fertilizer

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 20:11:49 GMT

If you’re topdressing corn acres this spring with dry fertilizer, keep in mind how that product is managed in a high-residue system will determine whether the fertilizer feeds your crop or disappears into thin air.

Ken Ferrie notes that farmers in his area, central Illinois, commonly use ammonium sulfate, urea and potash for topdressing. He says every hour untreated urea sits on the field surface is a chance for the nitrogen (N) in the fertilizer to gas off and disappear.

“The ammonium sulfate is stable, but the urea has potential to get away when it breaks down,” explains Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

That “getting away” is nitrogen loss caused through volatilization—when N escapes as ammonia gas instead of being captured in the soil as ammonium. In a corn-on-corn rotation, with a lot of stalks and leaves on the field surface for instance, the risk for volatilization is even higher.

Residue Can Supercharge Urease

The problem starts with a naturally occurring soil enzyme called urease. It’s what kicks off the breakdown of urea into ammonia and then ammonium. In a corn-on-corn field with lots of residue, the urease is supercharged.

“The thing about urease enzyme here in the surface with all this residue, it is 10 times higher than it would be in the soil,” he says.
The enzyme goes to work quickly, converting urea to ammonia at the soil–air interface, and that ammonia can simply drift off into the atmosphere. The more time it spends on the surface, the higher the odds of loss.

That’s why timing and management of dry fertilizer applications are critical.

“We sometimes say you need to keep the pin in the grenade – keep the urease enzyme at bay until we can get it worked in or rained in,” Ferrie says.

Evaluate Your Risk Potential

If tillage is in the plan, your solution to prevent volatilization is simple. Apply the fertilizer, then work it into the soil as soon as field conditions allow. When urea is incorporated, even lightly, any ammonia that forms is far more likely to be captured in the soil and converted to ammonium, where the crop can use it.

“There’s probably not a lot of worry in that scenario,” he says. “You’re going to incorporate this urea, and when it gasses, it’ll be in the soil, it’ll be captured.”

But not every system or scenario involves immediate tillage. In many no-till or strip-till fields, or when soil conditions are too wet for equipment, growers end up spreading fertilizer and then waiting on the weather to do the incorporation work. In those situations,
Ferrie warns, the risk of volatilization can increase quickly.

“If it’s going to lay out here and depend on rain [for incorporation], depending on how long that’s going to be, we’re going to need a urease inhibitor to give us time to get it rained in,” he says.

Urease inhibitors can temporarily slow or stop enzyme activity, giving farmers a bigger window before significant nitrogen loss occurs. For fields with a lot of residue, that extra time can make a big difference—especially when the forecast is uncertain.

Alongside conventional urea plus a urease inhibitor, Ferrie points to another option – using ESN, a polymer-coated, encapsulated urea.

“The ESN basically keeps the urea protected,” he says. “In that situation, if we lay it on the surface, you’re going to have about 60 days of protection. If you incorporate it, in our studies, [it] would show about 30 days of protection.”

ESN uses a physical coating to regulate how quickly water gets in and dissolves the urea. For growers who want extended protection or are looking to match nitrogen release more closely with crop uptake, that can be a useful tool. Still, Ferrie’s quick to point out that this isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.

“It’s quite a bit more expensive,” he notes, underscoring the need to weigh costs against potential risks. For some high-yield, intensively managed corn-on-corn systems, the extra investment might pencil out. For others, a urease inhibitor on regular urea, combined with smart timing and placement, might be the more economical choice.

In addition, farmers need to think through when and how the urea in a fertilizer blend will get treated, Ferrie says If a urease inhibitor is added after everything is mixed together, you end up paying to “treat” nutrients that don’t actually need it.

“Treat the urea before you add the ammonium sulfate and the potash, or you’re going to end up treating all of the product, otherwise,” he cautions.

Is Your Nitrogen Program Leaving Bushels and ROI Behind?

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 19:20:17 GMT

Corn gives farmers three big chances during the growing season to turn nitrogen (N) into higher yields — but most fertilizer programs only partially hit the key windows, according to University of Illinois crop physiologist Fred Below.

His team’s research indicates there are three critical periods — early growth, vegetative and grain fill — where precise timing and placement can drive yields higher with smarter use of the same amount of N.

Below says corn’s nitrogen supply is essentially a two-way partnership between the soil and fertilizer. About half of the N the crop uses comes from the soil as organic matter breaks down, and the other half comes from applied fertilizer. For 230-bushel corn, for example, the crop accumulates about 260 lb. N per acre over the season, with roughly 130 lb. coming from the soil and 130 lb. from fertilizer.

Here’s a summary of Below’s latest research on N timing and placement — and how you can put the findings to work in your fields this season.

1. Early Growth: Small Uptake, Huge Benefits

On paper, early-season N uptake looks modest. But Below warns that starving a corn crop early is a huge mistake with season-long consequences.

“The corn plant senses nitrogen availability from a very early age, and it sets yield potential based on that,” he says. “If you don’t have enough nitrogen at the beginning, you will not set [high] yield potential.”

That makes well-placed N at planting a powerful tool.

Below’s team compared banded N to broadcast N at planting, holding total N use at 180 lb. per acre and then varying upfront vs. sidedress ratios, across multiple Illinois sites and years. Three things the team determined:

* Banding or a 2x2 application at planting generally out-yielded broadcast across treatments, averaging about a 7-bushel advantage.

* With broadcast, the exact upfront-to-sidedress ratio was critical — farmers often needed more N upfront to protect yield.

* With banded N, the system was more forgiving: a smaller, well-placed band at planting could set yield potential, then sidedress could be timed to match peak uptake.

2. Vegetative Stages: The Make-or-Break Window For N Uptake

By flowering (R1), Below’s data show a 230-bushel crop has already taken up about 75% of its nitrogen — roughly 200 lb. N per acre.

“When the crop flowers, it’s got 75% of its nitrogen. That’s for the ear development and for the grain,” he says.

Using integrated uptake curves, Below’s research team calculated that during peak vegetative growth, corn can take up more than 7 lb. of N per acre per day.

“That is the most important period in nitrogen uptake by corn,” he says. “You cannot increase yield without increasing the peak uptake.”

If N isn’t readily available in the root zone when that peak demand hits, yield will drop — regardless of how much total N is applied.

The placement of N is critical, Below adds, because corn roots move predominantly down into the soil and not horizontally, as he notes in the photo below.

(Fred Below)

In field trials comparing sidedress N applied down the middle of the row versus along the row with a Y-drop, the results showed the latter performed best. This approach ensures an N “reservoir” is around the roots during this peak uptake period, supporting higher yields without necessarily increasing total fertilizer rates, Below adds.

3. Grain Fill: Finishing the Job

By late season, corn isn’t taking up much nitrogen through the roots. Only about a quarter of its total N comes after flowering. Instead, the plant mostly pulls nitrogen out of the leaves and stalks and sends it to the ear to fill kernels.

If the crop is nitrogen-deficient, it robs the leaves of N faster, causing the canopy to “burn down” prematurely. This reduces the plant’s ability to finish grain fill and build deep and heavy kernels.

Below stresses that any late-season N application is fine-tuning, not a rescue pass. If the crop is already showing nitrogen deficiency (firing), the yield penalty has already been paid. However, he adds, in healthy fields with good moisture, a modest late-N application can help keep leaves green longer and improve the finish on the ear and deliver ROI.

Below’s research on nitrogen use was funded by the Illinois Nutrient Research & Education Council (NREC).

Rethinking Nitrogen for Short-Stature Corn

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 21:43:32 GMT

Since its debut, the buzz around short-stature corn has often focused on standability—the promise of a crop that won’t fold like a lawn chair when a July windstorm sweeps across the field. But as these hybrids increasingly move from company test plots into real-world acres, farmers are discovering that standability is only one piece of the story.

In a recent deep dive into the technology, University of Minnesota Extension agronomist Jeff Coulter urged growers to look past the “miniature” aesthetic of short-stature hybrids, which are usually 7-feet tall or less (traditional hybrids are typically 9 to 12 feet).

Instead, he believes the way these new hybrids access and use nitrogen (N), other nutrients and moisture could be the key to their long-term fit on your farm.

A Different Architecture Below Ground

The most significant changes in short-stature hybrids happen where you can’t see them. Coulter says research from Purdue University found that these hybrids often feature dramatically larger and deeper root systems than traditional corn.

“[One] study found that the short-stature hybrids had 35% to 42% greater total root biomass and a deeper root system than the standard stature hybrids,” Coulter reports.

This expanded root zone acts like a web, allowing short-stature hybrids to capture more nutrients and water throughout the growing season.

Tactical Nitrogen Use

Farmers often ask Coulter if the smaller plants have lower nutrient requirements. He says the data suggests otherwise. While yields remain competitive with traditional hybrids, short-stature plants are more “tactical” with their nitrogen use.

Key research findings include:

Higher Nitrogen Harvest Index: Short-stature corn shows a 3.5% greater N harvest index, meaning more nitrogen ends up in the grain rather than in the stalks and leaves.
Late-Season Uptake: These hybrids show a 20% greater total above-ground N uptake from silking to maturity, as compared to most traditional hybrids.
Better Efficiency: Research indicates an 18.5% greater recovery efficiency of applied N fertilizer.

“If you have greater N uptake, that means potentially less residual nitrogen in the soil will be lost,” Coulter notes. This efficiency helps protect the environment by reducing nitrate leaching post-harvest.

Application Timing Is Important

Research across Illinois and Indiana suggests that short-stature hybrids respond exceptionally well to split nutrient applications.

“Compared to applying all of the N near planting, researchers found that splitting the application with half of the N at the V6 stage increased yield in 60% of the trials for the short-stature corn,” says Coulter.

Delaying that second application to V12 was less consistent, showing yield benefits in only about a quarter of the trials.

For upper Midwest corn growers, a base nutrient rate at planting followed by a substantial in-season application around V6 appears to be the strongest strategy.

Despite the smaller stature of these new hybrids, Coulter warns against cutting nutrient rates, especially N. Total nutrient demand is driven by plant population and yield, not just height. Because short-stature corn is usually planted at higher populations (40,000 to 50,000-plus plants per acre), the total N, phosphorus, and potassium needs may actually be slightly higher than in traditional systems.

Three Tips for Managing Short-Stature Corn

Maintain Your Rates: Do not reduce N applications based on plant size; short-stature hybrids’ larger root systems and higher populations require full fertility.
Prioritize V6: Use some base level of nutrients at or around planting. Aim for an in-season application around the V6 growth stage to maximize yield response.
Run Strip Trials: Use the crop’s shorter height to your advantage by running ground-based trials to compare different rates and timings on your own fields.

Coulter stresses that short-stature corn is still in the early stages of use and needs more research. That future work includes refining economic optimum nitrogen rates for short-stature hybrids at different populations and row spacings, understanding their response to starter fertilizers, and quantifying phosphorus and potassium use in the new architecture.

In the meantime, short-stature corn offers farmers a compelling combination: strong yield potential, improved standability, a more efficient root system, and the management flexibility to deliver nitrogen later and in ways that can benefit both profitability and environmental stewardship.

Coulter addressed the nutrient needs of short-stature corn, along with other agronomic insights, during the 18th Annual Nutrient Management Conference in Mankato, Minn. You can watch his presentation via YouTube here .

A High-ROI Strategy for Corn Planter Upgrades and Stand Success

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 19:24:00 GMT

During a recent Farm Journal Corn College session, Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie tackled some of the tough questions growers have about closing systems and stand evaluation. From why social media trends shouldn’t dictate your equipment budget to the “ground-truthing” techniques that reveal hidden planting errors, Ferrie breaks down how to ensure your planter setup delivers a true return on investment this spring. Here are three questions Ferrie answered in detail:

1. Question: “Where would you rank the value of updating the closing wheel system compared to other planter attachments?”

Answer: Ferrie says before ranking anything, you need to know what problem you’re trying to solve. Today, you can easily spend as much on planter attachments as you did on the planter itself. So, every attachment needs a clear purpose and a clear return.
Whenever a farmer asks him about new attachments, Ferrie always asks a question of his own: “What do you hope this investment will do for you?”

“Too often, the honest reply is, ‘I don’t know, but I saw it on social media or at a farm show and it looked interesting,’” Ferrie notes.

He explains if you’re routinely evaluating corn stands and can see that your current closing system is not doing the job — there’s poor trench closure, sidewall smearing issues, uneven emergence — then upgrading that system can offer a strong ROI. But if your real limiting factor is row-unit downforce, leading to uneven depth and sidewall smearing, then changing the closing wheels won’t move the needle like fixing the downforce will.

Ferrie says if he had to pick “the top advancement” for corn stand establishment, it would be hydraulic downforce systems that both push and lift, and adjust on the go.

“Those systems, both in conventional and no-till situations, have done a lot to improve stands by maintaining consistent depth and reducing sidewall problems,” he says.

2. Question: “How can I evaluate my stand to identify if my closing system is an issue?”

Answer: Ferrie says good stand evaluation doesn’t start weeks after crop emergence. Instead, it starts at the planter.

“Ground-truthing your planter performance at planting can prevent a lot of stand issues later on,” Ferrie says. “This practice needs to be done on multiple rows across the planter, and in multiple soil types within the field.”

Ferrie’s recommendation: stop the planter several times in each field, get out and dig a cross-section across the furrow. In that crosscut, you’re looking for several problems that might need to be corrected.

(Crop-Tech Consulting)

A “perfect” cross-section, Ferrie says, is one where there’s no evidence of sidewalls standing, and no dry soil or air pockets are surrounding the seed.

He also reminds growers that the first 12 hours after planting, when the seed imbibes water, are critical. Dry soil around the seed in that window of time will delay water uptake and slow emergence.

Once the corn crop is out of the ground, shift your evaluation process to stand uniformity. At this point, Ferrie recommends doing plant counts and writing your observations down for future reference.

“Pay special attention to plants that are more than one collar behind their neighbors,” he says. “Those lagging plants should be dug up and examined.”

(Crop-Tech Consulting)

3. Question: “Can you put too much downforce on cast iron closing wheels?”

Answer: Yes, you definitely can, particularly in tilled or strip-tilled fields. Ferrie explains that excessive downforce on cast iron wheels can cause unnecessary compaction that young plants must fight through. The wheels can cut a deep trench in the furrow and push soil up into a ridge between the wheels.

This can create emergence problems in a couple of ways. If the spike doesn’t emerge dead center of the furrow, it may come up early off to the side, or it may attempt to leaf out underground if enough light filters down into the trench.

For plants that do emerge dead center, there’s another risk. As they break through that crown of soil pushed up by the closing wheels, they tend to set their crown roots about three-quarters of an inch below that raised ridge, Ferrie notes. If a heavy rain comes after emergence and flattens that ridge, those plants are effectively left with shallow crown roots — shallow corn that is more vulnerable to stress.

Be sure to check out Ferrie’s latest Boots In The Field podcast, where he offers additional answers to farmers’ planter and planting questions. Listen to it at the link below:

David Hula Claims 14th National Contest Title With 572.2589 BPA Entry

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 22:00:37 GMT

David Hula has set the bar for corn-yield excellence once again, winning the National Corn Growers Association’s 2025 Corn Yield Contest with 572.2589 bushels per acre (bpa). The Charles City, Va., farmer’s entry was in the Class H category (strip-till irrigated).
The win, Hula’s 14^th national title in the contest, solidifies a long legacy of achievement and commitment to pushing the limits of corn production.

A Look At Hula’s Previous Records
While the 2025 winning yield of 572.2589 bpa is impressive, it is not Hula’s personal best.

He won the 2023 NCGA contest with a record yield of 623.8439 bu. per acre—the highest to date.
That yield beat his previous world record of 616.8439 bu. per acre set in 2019.

The NCGA contest, in its 61st year, saw nearly 7,800 entries from farmers in 47 states. Entrants across the 10 production categories had verified yields averaging 269 bpa.

The association noted this year’s contest participants delivered impressive yields, showcasing the ingenuity and resilience that define U.S. agriculture.

NCGA President Jed Bower commented on the significance and value of participating in the contest.

“The Yield Contest is really about finding out what this crop is capable of,” Bower said in a statement. “And as corn farmers, we get to show what we’re made of, too. It challenges participants to find innovative ways to succeed and contribute to decades of agronomic data that prove that American farmers are great at what we do.”

Weather And Disease Pressure Were Factors
Hula told Farm Journal in early September that he was off to a good start with this year’s corn harvest, despite a growing season that was marked by weather challenges and disease pressure.

“I’m not disappointed by what I’m seeing today, somewhere in the 220- to 260-range for dryland,” he said, from the combine. “We’re having some pretty good success, but maybe not what we’re usually seeing here [with yields].”

His business partner in Total Acre , Randy Dowdy, responded with confidence in Hula’s abilities.

“I wish there was some kind of way to place bets, because I’d probably put some money on you if I had the chance. You haven’t been winning for a long time, for no reason. I don’t think it’s a fluke,” Dowdy said, with a chuckle.

Hula, ever modest, emphasized the importance of adapting and staying with the crop throughout the growing season rather than making excuses for difficult conditions.

“As growers, we all struggle some. We all always have something that seems to have held us back. And one thing I know we don’t do is we don’t blame the weather. We try to understand the weather, and we work around it,” he said.

The Future of Corn Yields and Farmer Advice
Hula believes the yield potential exists to surpass even his 2023 record. He dismisses the idea of a simple solution for high yields:

“Everybody thinks there’s a silver bullet,” he said. “They think it’s a special piece of dirt.”

He estimates the genetic potential locked inside modern seed technology is much higher than current records show.

“The seed technologies have brought us to where I do feel that the genetic potential is at least 900 bushels [per acre] in a bag when you go to open it,” he said.

However, Hula notes that one of the important keys to achieving high yields today is management.

“Today we can’t make more bushels. It’s just a system on how we’re able to protect the bushels once we plant it,” he explained. “The seed’s going to carry you so far. It gives you that foundation, and then the management side is the key to where it allows you to save as many bushels as you can.”

Looking Ahead To Next Season
Hula likes to encourage other corn growers and offers practical advice for those looking to boost their yields.

“I would recommend to most growers to take one section of some field and try something new that they haven’t done in the past. If they have good success there, try it on more acres the following year,” he said. “I’ve had a lot more failures than I’ve had successes, but if I stopped because I failed, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”

NCGA will be honoring the 30 national and 567 state yield winners during Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 25 – 27, 2026.

A complete list of the 2025 yield contest winners can be found at ncga.com/YieldContest .

3 Corn Disease Lessons You Should Apply in 2026

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 22:37:12 GMT

As farmers continue to battle through the valley of the current farm economic cycle, they can glean valuable lessons about managing corn disease from the 2025 season. According to Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie, these three takeaways can apply next year:

Diseases might be severe in one area but nonexistent a few miles away.
Designating a pest boss and a pest management team pays big.
Don’t walk away from your crop.

Here You Find Disease, There You Don’t

“In 2025, in many areas of the Corn Belt, farmers experienced 10-to-50-bu. yield losses from corn disease,” Ferrie says. “The big problems were tar spot and southern rust, often in the same field. When disease was discovered in time, damage was somewhat preventable.

“Here’s what made management tricky: One field would be at threshold levels for treatment, but 5 miles away fields were disease-free. It boiled down to the disease triangle, requiring a susceptible host, a pathogen and the right environment. In some areas, where the three components never came together, growers harvested some of their highest yields ever with no fungicide.”

That hit-and-miss disease situation, in a period of tight profit margins, made scouting fields and having a pest boss making timely treatment decisions even more crucial than usual.

These photos taken through the windshield of a combine show the impact of a disease compared to two applications of a fungicide. Besides higher yield, the stay-green effect of the fungicide can also lengthen the harvest window.

(Crop-Tech Consulting Inc.)

“Where disease was present, many growers netted a 25-bu.-to-40-bu. yield response from a fungicide application,” Ferrie says. “Good managers who continued to scout often discovered diseases coming back about two weeks after treatment. Many of them sprayed a second time and netted another 20-bu. or 30-bu. response in addition to improved standability. That’s why I say never walk away from a growing crop.

“Conversely, many farmers who failed to identify disease in their fields and did not apply a fungicide found their yields shrank by 40 bu. per acre from their July estimates.”

Go Low for Rust and Tar Spot

One lesson from 2025 that applies to fungicide application confirmed Ferrie’s previous studies and observations.

“Last season, tar spot and southern rust started low on the plants and worked their way upward,” Ferrie says. “Fungicides had to penetrate deep into the canopy to control them.”

With aerial application, big droplets often fell beneath the aircraft and penetrated the canopy. But the smaller, lighter droplets floated to the outside of the pattern, remaining on the top leaves. Most years, that’s not a problem; but in 2025 it provided streaky results.

“With ground applicators, we did not see that streaking effect, because we got good penetration across the swath,” Ferrie says. “They put the fungicide down low, where it was needed.”

Lesson for 2026: To control tar spot and rust low in the canopy, when using aerial application, narrow your spray pattern.

“If you have both diseases in a field, make sure you use a fungicide that controls both,” Ferrie adds.

Your Pest Management Team

“Don’t have a pest management team yet? The offseason is the ideal time to assemble one. Here’s some advice to help:

A team can consist of farm employees, retail employees or scouting services. Hesitant to use someone who sells products? “Lots of great pest managers work in retail,” Ferrie says. “Their success depends on you being successful also.”
You might want to assemble several teams, for various issues such as weeds, disease and insects.
On a smaller operation, the whole team can be just one person, but make sure someone is authorized to make timely decisions.
The team must know how to collect accurate data, including good pictures for the pest boss. There’s no room for emotion in their reports.
Scouting must not stop after a treatment is applied. “If a disease resurges, as many did last year, it can shorten the grain-fill period and turn a great crop into a mediocre one,” Ferrie says.
Just like the scouts, the pest boss must base decisions on data, not emotion, coffee shop conversation or someone else’s team.
While market prices influence the economic threshold of when to treat, don’t let them create an emotional situation where the option is to treat or not to treat.
The pest boss must consider crop insurance coverage when making treatment decisions. Is the operator insured? The landowner? For how much? Do any other insurance factors apply?

Southern Rust Delivers A Harsh Wake-Up Call For Disease Control

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 22:50:46 GMT

Southern rust swept through the Midwest this past summer, taking big bites out of corn yield potential and forcing many growers to consider making late-season fungicide applications they hadn’t budgeted for.

Now, many farmers are asking themselves and their agronomic advisers how to plan for next season. A common question: Is southern rust going to be a significant problem in the Midwest again in 2026?

The answer: No one knows. Southern rust does not overwinter in crop residue – it has to blow in on winds from southern climes to be a problem for Midwest growers. So, what happens next year with the disease depends largely on how Mother Nature behaves.

Another fun weather fact from summer of 2025...
Chart showing why disease pressure was at biblical levels in areas this summer. Over two months of humidity levels WAY above average.

Mid June until beginning of September, nearly every day was above average humidity (blue line)… pic.twitter.com/eFHEDs4hs1
— Pioneer Troy (@deutmeyer_troy) November 18, 2025

Fungicides Paid Their Way
If there’s any silver lining to the challenge many farmers had with southern rust this year it’s that now almost everyone knows how yield-crippling the disease can be and the value fungicides can deliver.

Mary Gumz says she was fielding calls from concerned corn growers as early as the V10 to V12 growth stages of corn.

“It was a very different scenario than we’re usually in most years, and we were recommending that farmers spray earlier than usual,” recalls Gumz, a Pioneer agronomy manager.

With the tough economics farmers faced this season, some opted to forgo an application. But where corn growers made the hard call and applied fungicide, those fields delivered at harvest.

“We got some big yield increases, and you could visually see the difference between those plants where we did make the early call [with a fungicide application] compared to the usual application at tassel timing,” she says.

Another factor that made southern rust so difficult to control this season is that, in many cases, a second application of fungicide was warranted where the disease had time to rebuild.

“You can get about two or three weeks of efficacy from a fungicide on southern rust, but don’t expect you’re going to get season-long control,” says Randy Dowdy, Valdosta, Ga., and partner in Total Acre . “I’m not aware of a fungicide that you can spray at tassel for southern rust and that will last 50, 60 days or until black layer.

Southern rust does not overwinter in corn residue like some other diseases, such as tar spot. Instead, if it shows up in the Midwest, it has arrived via winds from southern climes.

(Corteva/Pioneer)

Proactive Planning For Next Season Can Help
While southern rust is a concern, Kim Tutor, BASF technical marketing manager, encourages farmers to keep in mind those tough diseases, such as tar spot, northern corn leaf blight and gray leaf spot, that are annual disease challenges in the Midwest.

Tar spot overwinters in corn residue, ready to rebuild in corn crops when weather conditions are favorable to its development, and is making its way across the Corn Belt.

“Tar spot can be infecting a corn plant, causing damage internally for two to three weeks before we are able to detect a lesion or see symptomology on the surface of the leaf,” Tutor adds.

She says if you are in a situation where models show significant disease pressure is moving into your area or you are based in an area with tar spot pressure, for instance, to consider making an early application with a fungicide that has residual control during what she calls an optimized application window – as early as V10 and through at least R3.

If you are in an area with heavy tar spot levels or you are looking to push the envelope for yield, Tutor recommends making two fungicide applications in corn, keeping applications 20 to 28 days apart.

As for which fungicide you apply, for so-called driver diseases like tar spot or southern rust, Missy Bauer, Farm Journal Field Agronomist, recommends going with what she describes as “Cadillac” type chemistry, newer technology that features multiple modes of control.

Extension plant pathologists annually update fungicide efficacy ratings for various crops, including corn, via the Crop Protection Network website. You can check the ratings for each fungicide’s performance on various diseases using the Corn Fungicide Efficacy table. Some products work better on tar spot or gray leaf spot, whereas others are more effective on rusts and other diseases.

Given the outlook for grain prices next year, be sure to also check out the new Corn Fungicide ROI Calculator on the Crop Protection Network.
You can use the calculator to look at different scenarios (grain prices, expected yield, disease severity) to see the potential ROI on fungicide applications.

Currently data available in the calculator are from university uniform corn fungicide trials conducted across 19 states and Ontario, Canada between 2019 and 2022. Primary diseases in this data set were tar spot and southern rust.

(Crop Protection Network)

Your next read: Red Crown Rot Rising: What Every Soybean Grower Needs to Know For 2026

Corn Yield Champions Share Their Top 4 Hybrid Selection Strategies

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 19:54:56 GMT

Yield potential is always top of mind for farmers in the middle of evaluating and selecting corn hybrids for the next season, and this year is no exception. If anything, farmers are more tuned in than ever on hybrid evaluation, given the outlook for commodity prices in the year ahead.

Here are four ways David Hula and Randy Dowdy are approaching their hybrid selection process for 2026 and, in sharing, they hope their information will be helpful to you as well.

1. Balance yield potential with the other top two or three agronomic benefits you need.
“My No. 1 focus for a hybrid is it had better be standing when I get ready to harvest it, because there is nothing more miserable than having to take more time and risk equipment damage in harvesting down corn,” says Dowdy on the latest Breaking Barriers With R&D podcast.

His second priority is grain quality. Dowdy says he studies data from hybrid field trials and the performance of hybrids he tests on his own farm to evaluate plant health and what vulnerabilities they might have to specific diseases and insects common to the area.

His third priority is yield. While this ranking might differ from what most agronomic experts recommend, Dowdy puts it in perspective this way:

“We can make high yields with nearly all the hybrids out there that fit our farm today, so for me it’s more about managing the risks associated with them than just the yield potential alone,” explains Dowdy, who farms near Valdosta, Ga.

Dowdy and Hula share more insights on how they pick hybrids during their discussion earlier this week on AgriTalk:

2. Select hybrids for broad acreage use only if you have tested them on your own ground first.
Hybrids change so quickly today that Hula says it’s more important than ever to have evaluated new seed technology on your own ground.

“I challenge growers to try just a couple, three to five, new hybrids and evaluate them,” says Hula, Charles City, Va. “The results from your own personal management style, soil type, and weather conditions are going to give you the best data.”

Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie agrees with Hula.

“I’ve seen the same hybrid vary by 20 bu. to 40 bu. per acre because of different management practices used in a company test plot versus a farmer’s field,” Ferrie says. “Few farmers do plots, but the cost of seed today makes it worthwhile.”

Hula adds that he makes a point to split his planter with two different hybrids. “So when we’re going across most of our acres, that’s a way for us to compare a hybrid we know against a new one,” he says.

3. Look at a variety of performance data beyond your farm
While Hula and Dowdy are especially tuned in to how new technologies perform on their respective farms, they believe it’s still important to evaluate hybrid performance trial data companies provide.

“I like to consider how the trial is harvested, whether the data is just done by a yield monitor on a combine or with an actual weigh wagon,” Hula notes. “Sometimes the winning hybrid is not the one that the yield monitor says it is, so you have to be careful to filter out data that might not be accurate.”

Look for hybrids that perform consistently across locations and are well adapted over a wide range of climates and conditions, advises Jon LaPorte, Michigan State University Extension farm business management educator.

“Alternatively, evaluate data for testing locations nearest to you and your soil types. Make sure you consider at least three years of data for each hybrid. This will provide insight to how a hybrid performs over different weather scenarios. No two years are the same. Hybrids that are consistently performing at the top indicate that they are well adapted to various climates, LaPorte says in his article, Seed Selection: Beyond Yield and Disease Resistance.

4. Build relationships with seedsmen whose companies have a good product lineup for your area and who will help you succeed with their products.
Good seed dealers have integrity, a deep understanding of their company’s products, are good problem solvers and are looking for mutual success.

“Ask your seedsman what hybrids you need to be looking at,” Hula advises. “They’ll want to stack the cards in your favor and theirs, so they’re going to tell you the best hybrids to look at out there from start to finish.”

Talking to your seedsman and reading his company literature can give you some insights into product performance, but be prepared to ask more questions to get answers to the nitty gritty details about yield potential--especially for those new-to-you hybrids.

“Sometimes you have to read between the lines to figure out how a hybrid will perform,” Ferrie says. “With disease ratings, which can go from 1 to 9, the company literature might only use the 7 to 9 ratings and nothing lower because they know the competition would pick them apart otherwise. A good seedsman knows this information and will tell you the weaknesses to look out for, where to put that hybrid on your farm or whether you should even grow it,” he adds.

Your next read: 8 Expert Tips for Choosing the Best Seed Corn for 2026

Watch this week’s Breaking Barriers With R&D on YouTube . In this episode, lifelong farmers and founders of Total Acre, Randy Dowdy and David Hula, explore how technology, genetics, and innovation continue to redefine what’s possible on the farm.

Two Essential Factors For Preserving Corn & Soybean Quality In On-Farm Storage

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 21:17:52 GMT

As harvest finishes up, a high-stakes management process is getting underway inside countless on-farm grain bins. Farmers are working to keep corn and soybean crops in good condition until marketing opportunities hopefully improve.

Two key factors farmers will need to manage throughout the months ahead are temperature and moisture. Here is a number of recommendations Extension specialist offer to help growers in the process:

Temperature: A Guardian Of Grain Quality
Managing temperature in the bin is a cornerstone of effective grain storage. By carefully managing temperature levels, Ken Hellevang says farmers can significantly extend the quality of their stored grain and minimize the chance for incurring losses over winter.

“I like to say that for every 10 degrees that we cool the grain, we double the storage life,” notes Hellevang, emeritus professor of agriculture and biosystems engineering at North Dakota State University.

According to Iowa State University Extension , the ideal temperature range for storing grain during winter is between 30° F and 40° F.

If grain drops below 30° F, the risk of freezing and forming large chunks increases, which can cause problems when trying to empty the bin later, adds Reagan Tibbs , University of Illinois Commercial Agriculture Educator.

Monitoring and managing the grain temperature is a critical piece of grain storage, emphasizes Hellevang, who addressed the topic on a recent Crop Science Podcast Show .

He says maintaining an optimal temperature offers a couple of critical benefits:
1. Spoilage prevention: Hellevang says temperature variations within the grain mass can create convection currents, leading to moisture migration and spoilage. Consistent temperature control helps maintain grain quality by minimizing the risks associated with moisture buildup and heat retention.

2. Insect control: Most insect activity significantly decreases below 55°F, and insects typically enter dormancy at temperatures below 50°F, Hellevang says.

“For those farmers in the northern country, where we have cold temperatures, if we bring the temperature down to freezing or even a little below that, we can actually kill insects,” he adds.

Aeration should be done routinely throughout the winter to maintain cool and even temperatures in the bin, according to Iowa State University Extension . Uneven temperatures in the grain bin can occur when the grain mass isn’t cool enough going into winter, resulting in cooler grain along the bin walls and warmer grain in the core. This temperature difference can cause convection currents that deposit moisture on the grain surface, causing spoilage and crusting.

Other reasons for uneven temperatures in the bin include solar heating of grain under the roof and along the bin walls, as well as heating from insect and mold activity. Iowa State recommends leveling the grain surface to improve aeration and prevent issues caused by accumulated fines by spreading grain or coring the bin .

University of Minnesota Extension recommends covering fans when they are off to prevent severe weather and temperature changes from affecting the bin. Covers made of canvas, tarp, or even plywood can be used for this purpose.

Moisture Management Is Essential
Hellevang likes to remind farmers that there’s a difference between market moisture and storage moisture.

For corn, he says the market moisture is about 15.5%. But corn going into long-term storage, at or beyond 6 months, needs to be maintained at 13% to 14% moisture.

“We also need to be a little concerned about not getting grain too dry, because the drier it gets, the more brittle it becomes, and we see more breakage issues,” he says, adding: “The market really doesn’t reward you for bringing in 10% moisture corn. They’d like to be handling that 13%, 14% moisture corn.”

Hellevang adds that every region of the country is a “little different” on what they find are ideal moisture levels for grain in storage.

As part of maintaining ideal temperature and moisture levels, Tibbs tells farmers to keep an eye on potential moisture migration in the bin.

“What can happen is when the temperature difference between the outside and inside the grain bin exceeds 20° F, the moisture content in the bin can increase toward the top. That raises the risk of grain crusting, which can reduce grain quality and pose safety concerns when checking bins,” Tibbs explains.

Monitor Grain Throughout The Storage Period
Hellevang suggests checking stored grain every two weeks. While checking on the grain, measure and record the grain temperature and moisture content. Rising grain temperature may indicate insect or mold problems. Insect infestations can increase from being barely noticeable to major infestations in three to four weeks when the grain is warm, he adds.

Checking the grain moisture content is important because moisture measurements at harvest may have been in error due to moisture gradients in the kernel, grain temperature, and other factors. When checking the moisture content of stored grain, Hellevang advises following the manufacturer’s procedure for obtaining an accurate moisture measurement.

Your next read: Anhydrous Ammonia: One Small Mistake Can Have Life-Changing Consequences