Corn Planting Reminders

Corn planting time is upon us, and when Dr. Heiniger spoke at the 2025 Hertford Corn Production Meeting, he reminded us of value of successful seed germination and uniform stand establishment. He mentioned the benefits of accumulating 40 to 50 growing degree units (GDUs) in the 4 days following planting. He also forecasted potential June rainfall and the potential for basis premiums for early delivery of corn suggesting that planting early in April with a 109-115 day RM hybrid would be a good strategy for 2025.

As a reminder, corn GDUs are calculated using the following formula:
GDUs = 
[(Daily Maximum Temperature ºF + Daily Minimum Temperature ºF) ÷ 2] – 50
Keep in mind that you use a value of 86 ºF for any daily high temperature above 86 ºF. Likewise, for any minimum daily temperature below 50 ºF, you should use 50 ºF in the above equation.

Dr. Heiniger also reminded us that if your forecast is for more than 2 inches of precipitation in the first week following planting, you may be hurting your germination and stand establishment.

Before heading to the field with the planter, please check the upcoming weather forecast for your area. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do I have the proper GDU accumulation for successful corn seed germination?
2. How much precipitation is forecasted in the first 7 days after planting?
3. Are you running pop-up or starter fertilizer on your planter? If so maybe you can have successful germination with the lesser recommended amount of GDU accumulation.
4. What is your current soil temperature? If your soil temperature is below 50 ºF then you might not be doing yourself any favors by letting the planter hit the field right now.

Guidance for Your Part of Hertford

One of the tools available to us is the Climate Dashboard for NC Corn Growers, which provides North Carolina corn growers with climate-based information and predictions about seasonal corn development.

Click on the links below for your nearest region in Hertford County. When you do, the tool will default to the current date as a planting date. You can change the planting date in Section 2 and click “Update Chart”.

Regions

Ahoskie

Aulander

Como

Cofield

Harrellsville

Murfreesboro

Winton

Other Areas

If you want a report for a particular field or any area in North Carolina, check out the link below for the NC Climate Office.

Climate Dashboard for NC Corn Growers

• Enter your location in the first section and then click “Search”.
• Input your intended planting date in the second section.
• Under the third section select any years you’d like to compare the current year to and then click “Update”.
• Once the chart has updated you will see planting guidance based on today’s date and estimation of crop stage timing for the year.

Short-Range Outlook for North Carolina

Lastly, forecasts change, so pay attention to your local conditions. If you have questions, please contact us at the N.C. Cooperative Extension, Hertford County Center, at (252) 358-7822.

Soybean Planting Reminders

Optimal planting dates following Dr. Rachel Vann’s five year study has shown maximizing yields from planting dates ranging from April 20th to May 30 with early May being the most ideal planting date. Planting too early risks include possible frost damage, seedling disease pressure, increased early season insect pressure, and end-of-season quality issues. An additional risk of planting too early is that earlier planted soybeans tend to produce shorter plants than soybeans planted in late April to mid-May. These plants were found to not get the vegetative engine needed to drive yield, resulting in shorter plant heights planting prior to mid-April.

Research from 2014-2018 has shown no impact of a fungicidal seed treatment on soybean yield when soybeans were planted after mid-May. Insecticidal seed treatments have shown to provide no benefit, regardless of planting date.

More information on planting decisions, seeding rate, planter calibration, and seed treatments can be found at North Carolina Soybean Production Guide/Planting Decisions.

Below slides are from the 2025 Edenton Soybean School keynote presentation titled, “High Yielding Soybeans: Setting Foundations + Expanding“, by Dr. Shaun Casteel, Purdue University Soybean Extension Specialist. See notes on Sulfur fertility below. Sulfur fertilization supplied pre-plant in early planting situations is key to nitrogen fixation, leaf retention, and increasing seed size.

More information on Soybean yield response to Nitrogen and Sulfur fertilization can be found in this Science for Success Publication.