Most farmers are gamblers by nature, though not likely big buyers of lottery tickets nor frequent patrons of casinos. The fact is that they bet their financial well-being on Mother Nature. When deciding whether or not to plant corn, a quick glance at the calendar back in March would have been enough to say no to putting seed corn in the ground; right? Not necessarily in this part of Ohio in 2012. I know of a dozen or so farmers in our area that planted fields as early as March 21. Such fields exhibited two-leaf corn late last week. The stands looked pretty good, although a tad paler green than desired; probably from shivering.

Many more area growers socked seed in the soil since then. In fact, I talked with a farm woman just south of here who thought her husband did a back flip when he finished planting corn last Friday. Several others were also done on Friday the 13th. Remember the gambling reference? Those farmers are confident in their chances that hybrids already planted have strong emergence traits with plenty of seedling vigor. The same individuals have likely had success with early planted corn in previous years. The strong basis offered by ethanol plants for early harvested corn is also enticing. Other corn producers have studied short and long term weather forecasts and are concerned about drier weather later in the growing season. Yet others recall last year’s wet spring and delayed planting opportunities at that time.

An area seed company representative confirmed what I had learned from farmers in the area. A handful of his customers, some with 1,500 acres of corn, were all done planting as of last Friday. Others had only seeded their better drained fields, resulting in 40-50 percent of their acreage done. Still others could not resist the temptation of planting at least a field or two. However, we agreed that most farmers had not yet transferred the seed from the bag to the soil.  

Dust filled the air last week as field after field were tilled, with most of those fields now at the ready-to-plant status. With near ideal moisture conditions, numerous fields were no-tilled in to soybean stubble.  

Countless fields received burndown herbicide applications over the past several weeks for no-till soybeans. Winter annuals, marestail, dandelions, some perennial grasses and cover crops were targeted for termination. Much of the worked acreage is also designated for soybean planting. Soybean seeding will not officially begin until April 21, the earliest date that planted soybeans can receive full insurance coverage. In reality, if soil conditions permit, numerous fields will have soybean seed swelling well before that date.

Overall, winter wheat looks good. Without a doubt, many of the stands that looked thin coming out of dormancy have already been burned down or destroyed by tillage. Retained fields have nearly all been top dressed with nitrogen at least once, some twice. Not many farmers grow oats, but those who sowed in March can now look at green, even stands.

It is good to see that many fields have been tiled since last fall, or are being tiled yet this spring. Surface and subsurface drainage improvements are excellent investments for improved crop productivity. One more reference to gambling farmers; those who bury their money improve their chances of profitable yields. 

My resident literary critic pointed out an redundancy error in last week’s column. To correct that error, remember the concept of 4R nutrient stewardship is to use the right fertilizer source, at the right rate, at the right time with the right placement.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Roger Bender may write to him in care of this publication.