Soil Temperatures and Accumulated GDD

The slow start to 2018 planting continues, but we would expect progress to accelerate this week as rainfall amounts lessen and air temperatures increase. We are at the calendar date where ground conditions rather than concerns about soil temperature will dictate planting. Soil temperature and accumulated Growing Degrees Days (GDD) from select OARDC Weather Station locations will be provided for at least a couple more weeks to help gauge when crop emergence should be seen. Based on current accumulated GDD (Table 1) we would not expect any emerged corn yet, based on the April 12 planting window that occurred, but any corn planted in that window in Southern Ohio should emerge soon.

Table 1. Weekly and Accumulated GDD values since April 12 from select OARDC weather locations. Corn emergence typically occurs between 100 and 120 GDD accumulation.