For the week starting May 22, temperatures were 6 to 8 degrees below normal across the state. Rain over the past month has presented challenges to corn planting for farmers in Kansas. Several areas received large quantities of rain from April 15 to May 25. Muddy fields are common now in many areas of the state.
Corn planting status across the entire state is 70% as of May 22 (Fig. 2, upper panel), with close to 50% of all corn emerged (Fig. 2, lower panel). The crop reporting districts of Northwest and West Central are the ones where the most progress is still needed on planting corn.
Short-term weather outlook
The short-term 6-10 day weather outlook (Fig. 3, upper panel) calls for above-normal precipitation. The 8-14 day weather outlook also calls for above “normal” probability of precipitation across the state (Fig. 3, lower panel).
The amount of precipitation forecast for the upcoming 7-day period ranges from 0.5-inch in the SW and SC parts of the state to about 1 inch or so in the eastern side, and close to 1.5-inch in the NW and SE corners of the state (Fig. 4).
Considering the weather outlook for the coming week, planting in the next coming days/weeks will still be quite challenging with much-narrowed planting windows.
The main concerns and management considerations from now on are related to the effects of standing water and saturated soils, early-season production problems, additional nitrogen (N) needs, and herbicide applications.
Ignacio Ciampitti, Crop Production and Cropping Systems Specialist
ciampitti@ksu.edu
Mary Knapp, Weather Data Library
mknapp@ksu.edu