This week’s warmer weather will give farmers in the western corn belt an opportunity to get into the fields and start planting. Pioneer Agronomist Curt Hoffbeck says while 50-degree and above soil temperatures are optimum for planting corn, the key is those soils need to maintain that temperature or there’s a risk of seed injury and poor stand establishment.

Last spring farmers started off with very dry soil conditions and ended up planting in dust. Hoffbeck says this year the soil moisture situation is much better.

As farmers head to the field he advises planting the optimum seeding rate, which varies with the hybrid.

And Hoffbeck says early planting does pay for farmers. Area trials last season showed a 22 bushel per acre yield advantage for corn planted mid-April and a nearly 4 bushel yield advantage on soybeans planted the last week of April.