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Soil moisture crucial to getting corn off to good start

An extension agronomist points to soil moisture as a crucial piece of getting corn off to a good start.

Jeff Coulter with the University of Minnesota says it starts at planting.

“And it’s important to place those seeds in moisture, get good seed to soil contact so that we can get good uniform emergence, and quickly.”

He tells Brownfield for areas that are dry going into planting.

“Keep monitoring the soil moisture, and if possible maybe consider planting a little deeper. In some cases maybe as deep as 2 1/2 inches.”

Coulter also recommends taking steps to conserve soil moisture like limiting the time between pre-plant tillage and planting, not tilling too deep, and avoiding any unnecessary tillage passes.