Season 6 Episode 6—Corn Planting Update
On this episode of the Alabama Crops Report, hosts Simer Virk and Scott Graham are talking corn planting with Eros Francisco, an assistant professor and Extension grain crops agronomist, and David Russell, an associate Extension professor in crop, soil and environmental sciences.
Corn planting is underway in Alabama, and farmers are cautiously optimistic about the season. The crew discusses the concerns of continued increases of input costs as well as low commodity prices due to high domestic supply and limited exports. They also talk about lessons from recent growing seasons, weed management, cover crops, planter setup and seeding rate recommendations.
From a crop management point of view, we saw 2025 being challenging with the with the ton of rain we got in May. We do have a study at E.V. Smith in Shorter, and we did see a response to the nitrogen apply, even though we had ten inches of rain in May just after nitrogen was applied. We did see a response to the nitrogen because we had a control to compare. So, I think the message is don’t freak out if we end up having rain after nitrogen applications. You’re not going to lose 100% of nitrogen. – Eros Francisco