Key Points
- Objective: To evaluate various corn planting dates throughout the spring to determine the optimum planting date.
- Yield Increase: Through this study, ideal planting dates led to yield advantages up to 67.4 Bu/A.
- Potential Losses: Lower-performing planting dates led to economic losses over $200.00/A in comparison to higher-performing planting dates.
- Ideal Time to Plant: The third week in April has typically led to the highest yields each year at the PTI Farm, assuming conditions are favorable.
If you plant in the mud, your crop could be a dud!
When is the right time to plant corn? Each year, growers try to guess the over-under of planting too early or too late. We wanted to take a closer look at what type of risk you really may be taking on depending on when you plant.
We’ve put it to the test by planting across multiple weeks over the span of several years and then calculated the data for you to utilize on your own farm.
Over the six-year time-period from 2018-2023, the ideal planting window for corn has been the 3rd week of April through 1st week of May. The highest yield losses have been ultra-early planting dates (1st and 2nd week April) with losses of -9.5 Bu/A to -13.5 Bu/A, as well as the 2nd week of June with losses of nearly -45.6 Bu/A.
What we found proved that, while there is a potential gain in earlier planting dates, it isn’t worth trying to rush the planting of corn by getting it in the ground too early. It is better practice to wait for the right planting conditions in this ideal window.
“The highest revenue generator, or the one that cost us the most money, was actually from planting corn in improper conditions.”
Jason Webster
Commercial Agronomist
Corn Planting Date Study Results
Past Study Videos
InsidePTI S3•E03
Planting Date ‣ Corn + Soybean
InsidePTI S2•E05
Planting Date ‣ Corn
InsidePTI S1•E01
Optimum Corn Planting Date
Study Details
Study data collected 2018-2022 at the PTI Farm in Pontiac, IL.
Planting Date | Varied By Year | Rotation | CAB |
Row Width | 30" & 20" | Population | 34K-36K |
Corn Prices | 2023 - $5.31 2022 - $6.00 2021 - $5.00 2020 - $3.75 2019 - $3.67 2018 - $3.50 | Hybrid | 2023 - GH10L16 2022 - GH11V78 2021 - GH15J91 2020 - GH10D21 2019 - DKC 65-94 2018 - 1366AMXT |