How cold was it? The corn knows.

Erick Larson, Mississippi Extension Grain Specialist, points out in his Grain Crops Update newsletter this week that growing DD-50 (GDD-50) accumulation since March 1 have run 30% below the norm at the Stoneville weather state. That goes a long way toward explaining a lot of the poor stands and sickly corn across the state.

"Corn germination and growth generally cease at temperatures of 50 degrees F or lower," he noted in a section on slow germination and crop development this spring. "Cold periods combined with (soil moisture) saturation have contributed to considerable corn stand failure associated with early plantings this season. Weather records throughout the south Delta show two separate 5- to 6-day periods with virtually zero GDD 50s immediately preceding and subsequent to March 5‐10, when considerable corn acreage was planted."

Rain and cold delayed corn planting in north Mississippi to the point that some growers are just now able to start.

In Tennessee the weather also has put corn planting on hold, and the remaining corn to be planted is mostly in bottoms, according to Chris Main, the state's Extension wheat and cotton specialist.

"It will take a while for that soil to dry up, and after next week nobody needs to be planting corn in Tennessee," he said. "Soybean prices could pull some of that land into beans, but I think a lot of the soybean ground is already dedicated, so some of the last fields meant for corn might go to cotton."

Main says the state's cotton acreage could run 310,000 to 320,000 acres this year, compared to 380,000 last year. But depending on how much of the late corn is finally planted, the final figure might approach 330,000, he said. "I don't see it going above 345,000," he added.

-- Owen Taylor