Aim for optimum planting depth

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Planting season is ramping up with progress varying depending on the weather’s cooperation across geographies.

Matt Montgomery, Beck’s agronomy education lead, shared his research-based insights on planting depth and timing in a recent Illinois Corn Growers Association video.

“Probably a number to keep in mind for ideal planting depth for most people is about two inches. That’s where we tend to see the best return when we go about two inches deep,” he said.

Why does depth matter?

“It matters because we’re in this constant struggle to find a way to get the crop to emerge as uniformly as possible. That’s not easy for us to do if we waited for ideal soil temperatures for uniform emergence. We’d be waiting a long time and get behind the game to get a crop planted,” Montgomery said.

“The reason planting depth matters, though, is that it increases the chances that that seed that we plant is going to encounter uniform soil temperatures and moisture so that it will all emerge more closely to the same time. That’s a big reason why we get really interested in planting depth.”

Hitting the right depth also helps with root development and other factors as the plant grows.

“We spend a lot of time talking about why early planting matters in soybeans, and it does, but early also matters with corn,” the agronomist said.

Why does timing matter?

“It matters because when we go later and later on the calendar, it means that silking and reproduction are going to go later and later on the calendar into periods of time that are a little harder on that crop,” Montgomery said.

“When we plant earlier, we actually have a better chance of some positive results. It doesn’t always work out that way. But if you look at things historically, we see that the highs and the lows when we go with a little earlier planting date tighten up.

“The later we go, the more the difference between those highs and lows stretches out. It makes this unpredictable business that we’re in that much more unpredictable when we plant late.”