Planting Corn into Sod in 2011

Planting corn  into sod comes with some general opportunities and challenges. Corn could generate a gross return of US$500-700/acre, or more, depending on yield and marketing. That is a large enough opportunity to consider taking old pasture or hay fields and converting them to corn for 2011. While some producers have plenty of experience with corn, others are more experienced with tobacco, hay or pastures. The general comments below are targeted to both types of producers.

1. Nitrogen benefit. Land that has been in a grass and/or legume sod for four years will reduce the fertilizer nitrogen (N) requirement by about 25 lbs. N/acre. If that soil has been in sod for five years or more, then fertilizer N can be reduced by 50 lbs. N/acre.

2. The vast majority of hay and pasture fields are potassium (K) deficient. Hay removes a lot of K2O from the soil, while pasture fields tend to remove a little less. Without even conducting a soil test, odds are very good that the sod will need about 60 lbs. K2O/acre. Of course, a soil sample provides a much more accurate estimate of what is needed in the field. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine from Perendale Publishers.