Houston, 29 April (Argus) — Abundant spring precipitation is delaying US corn plantings, though the later start to the growing season may not directly affect yields.
Research done by Purdue University's Department of Agronomy suggests that while planting corn between 20 April and 10 May in Indiana favors higher corn yields, it does not guarantee them.
Reviewing crop reports from the US Department of Agriculture and National Agricultural Statistics Service shows that there is not a strong relationship between planting date and absolute yield, Purdue agronomy professor R.L. Nielsen wrote in a recent article.
The USDA's 29 April Crop Progress report indicates that only 5pc of the total corn crop had been planted as of 28 April. As of 21 April, only 4pc of the crop had been planted, a similar pace to the 2009 crop, which only had 5pc of the crop planted as of 19 April because of delays caused by wet weather across the midcontinent.
While 2013's total crop production is still undetermined, 2009 saw production of about 13bn bushels, or 164 bushels/acre, which was 8pc higher than the previous year and about 34pc more than 2012's drought year crop which saw average yields of 122 bushels/acre, the lowest US output since 2006.
Farmers nationwide typically aim to get their corn crop planted between the second and third week of May at the latest, said Chad Lee, extension agronomist at the University of Kentucky. Though the late season may encourage some growers to change their corn intentions to soybeans because of yield risk, Lee said most are not thinking about switching yet.
“If there is still slow progress through the third or fourth week of May, you might start seeing some switch,” Lee said. “If they (famers) plant corn they are not going to switch their fertilizer practices that much. Right now, the price and planting date still favors corn.”
Nitrogen fertilizer sales could increase this year, especially if corn plantings are delayed through the end of May, Lee said. Some farmers will have to reapply nutrients that were lost from precipitation, though Lee says a nitrate test should be done to ensure applications of additional product are done efficiently.
But the type of nitrogen fertilizer preferred in this year's applications could change. Ammonia applications are dwindling this season because of the time required for the injection process, prompting growers to look at other nitrogen products. On a cost per unit of nitrogen basis, urea is much cheaper than liquid urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), with urea from the Cincinnati/Jeffersonville area costing 47¢/pound of nitrogen and UAN around 10-12¢/pound premium, according to Argus FMB data.
“At our warehouses, we even have folks trying to get out of their UAN contracts so that they can switch to urea,” said one Delta terminal owner who has seen spot truck sales of urea increase significantly in the last week. “The rains mean urea is going to be a preferred product in our region.”
Over 5.5mn st of nitrogen nutrient were used on US corn over the 2010 fertilizer year, compared to nearly 4.9mn st of nitrogen applied to corn in the 2009 fertilizer year, according to USDA data.
Send comments to feedback@argusmedia.com
dh/dcb 3.1
If you would like to review other ArgusMedia.com content options, request more information about Argus' energy news, data and analysis services.
Copyright © 2013 Argus Media Ltd - www.ArgusMedia.com - All rights reserved.
