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Cool, wet weather brings some concerns for emerging crops

An agronomy manager with Wyffels Hybrids says the cool, wet streak of weather could pose some challenges.

Ryan Gentle, who covers the western half of Illinois, tells Brownfield, “This cooler weather, if you’ve got seed in the ground, that’s prime for seedling blights sometimes.”  He says, “When you have cool and wet, especially, we don’t sometimes handle cold and wet the greatest.”

Although the weather could affect emergence and has slowed down planting progress, Gentle says the rain has been welcome.

“I’m not complaining about the rain.”  He says, “I would have liked to seen it maybe in March, but we needed to recharge.  We saw a lot of big tiles that weren’t running very good. But I think for the most part, we’ve taken care of that now with these last couple big rain events. And that’s right where you want to be going into a growing season.”

Gentle says growers should closely evaluate any crops emerging during the cool weather to ensure adequate stands.

AUDIO: Ryan Gentle – Wyffels Hybrids