Moisture availability this week is a tale of two extremes across the Corn Belt. Farmers are reporting they either have too little, or they have way too much.
Kenneth Hartman Jr. is in the latter camp on his southern Illinois farm.
“It’s one of the worst springs I’ve seen in a long time, when it comes to water,” says Hartman, who’s based 25 miles south of St. Louis.
In April, Hartman’s area received record rainfall amounts that saturated the ground. “It’s still so wet there’s water coming up out of the ground in spots,” he says.
While Hartman is usually done with corn planting by now, he estimates he had only 30% of the 2025 crop in the ground as of Thursday.
“We’ve also got a few hundred acres of soybeans planted, but it’s just been challenging,” he told Chip Flory on AgriTalk.
A Belt Of Wet Soil Goes Across The Midwest
Hartman, president of the National Corn Growers Association, heard from a wide swath of farmers this week on what’s playing out in their fields across the country.
“I think if you look at Interstate 70 all the way across, you see this [excess moisture] goes across a big area,” Hartman says. “I know some folks in Indiana are having a lot of issues. Ohio is having a lot of issues. I know some folks in Missouri that’ve hardly started planting any corn. So, it’s pretty challenging in parts of the United States.”
Following Hartman’s line of thought, a look at the U.S. Drought Monitor released on Thursday shows that moisture levels for the most part appear adequate along the I-70 corridor, which runs east to west, until you reach Kansas. Sections of central, western and southwest Kansas are dry. Then, from central Colorado and into Utah, drought conditions appear to prevail.
The U.S. Drought Monitor released on Thursday reports 22% of the corn production area is in some level of drought, while 17% of the total soybean production is experiencing some level of drought.
Some Farmers Are Restarting Their Corn Planters
Shell Rock, Iowa, farmer Jeff Reints says 98% of the corn crop in his part of northeast Iowa is planted, and he anticipates only a small percentage needs to be replanted.
“About 85% of our corn acres here are just perfect. Another 10% may not be the best but is still a keeper. And 5% of my customers are having to tear it up and replant,” says Reints who sells seed for Wyffels Hybrids, in addition to farming.
Tim Burrack says he is having to replant some corn acres, and adds that what is already emerged is causing him concerns.
“It’s highly uneven, very uneven. It just sat in the ground too long, and it was too wet,” says Burrack, who’s based in northeast Iowa, near Arlington.
Keep A Level Head To Make Replant Decisions
Whether to replant can be an emotionally charged decision this season, given the low commodity prices. Missy Bauer, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and co-owner of B&M Crop Consulting in south-central Michigan, is telling her customers to lean on the numbers to guide decisions.
“You need to know how good your corn stands are, because all the decisions we make the rest of the season are based on those numbers and how uniform the crop is,” she says. “Say you have 33,000 plants out there, how uniform are they? The uniformity can help us decide where to invest available dollars on inputs moving forward.”
In the process of doing stand counts, Bauer says to also take into consideration hybrid type.
“If it’s a real fixed ear that needs a lot of population, then maybe your trigger to replant is going to be a little bit higher of a number where you’ve got to have more final stand out there than if it was a hybrid that flexes a lot and can really add ear length under less population,” she explains. “With this second one, maybe I can let the numbers go down a little before I’d pull that replant decision in the corn.”
Be Proactive In Scouting Fields
At this point in the season, the important thing is to be proactive in evaluating stands, says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting, Heyworth, Ill. Ferrie recommends using a drone to fly over fields, which could speed up the scouting process.
“With corn, take the entire stand out and then replace it,” he advises. “Do not attempt to thicken up old corn stands.”
“If you can’t bring yourself to tear it out, your stand is good enough,” he adds. “Don’t let the coffee shop tell you how to handle your replant decisions. This is not a decision where the majority rules. Each field needs to be called on its own.”
Ferrie offers a replant calculator online to help Illinois farmers make replant decisions. You can access Ferrie’s online calculator here.
Bauer adds that most university Extension agronomists also provide corn and soybean replant charts online.
Next Steps To Consider If You Keep The Crop
Ferrie says to be aware that fields pounded by rains will likely benefit from being hoed to help the crop with emergence.
“If you don’t have a hoe, use your planter,” Ferrie advises. “Set it the same way that we do when we use our planters to row fresh. Use the most shallow depth setting you can to get pressure off your closing wheels. Use your row cleaners with downforce to break that crust,” he adds.
Michelle Rook and Tyne Morgan contributed interviews for this article.
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