LSU AGCenter corn specialist Dan Fromme says farmers across the state are behind on planting this year due to wetter-than-usual conditions this spring.
“We’re probably only 5% planted, maybe less, and it’s just scattered pockets,” Fromme tells The News-Star. “We’ve still got some time, but I can understand they’re getting anxious.”
One of those anxious farmers is Adam Faulk of Franklin Parish. At this time last year, Faulk says he had his entire crop in. This year, he hasn’t sewed a singled seed, and says he’s been “riding around in my truck right now looking for any dry spot to plant.”
“I’m about to pull my hair out,” Faulk says. “Usually I’m through with corn by now and getting ready to plant beans in early April.”
The LSU AgCenter recommends corn be planted by April 1. Most Louisiana farmers prefer to have it planted by mid-March or earlier.
“It’s important to get corn in as early as you can to beat some of the summer heat later on,” Faulk says. “When the temperature gets into the mid-90s, it affects pollination and drags on your yield.”
Keith Collins, an LSU AgCenter agent in Richland Parish, says he doesn’t remember a March this wet since 1991.
“But that was before the corn era in Louisiana, when everything was planted in cotton, which doesn’t go in until later,” Collins says. “I don’t remember anything like this since we’ve gone to corn.”
Last year, the state recorded total corn acreage of 420,000, with average yields of 183 bushels per acre—a record high. This year, about 400,000 acres of corn are projected to be planted.
