Much of South Carolina is now receiving some timely rainfall for corn. A lot of our corn was planted on time and in some cases earlier than the last few years due to good field conditions and soil moisture. The corn crop in SC is now considered planted, and most seems off to a good start. In many places, side-dress and top-dress applications of fertilizer are going out and post herbicide applications. Be mindful as winter wheat begins to dry down and harvest begins to scout corn fields for stinkbugs. Corn is susceptible to stinkbug damage even at early vegetative growth stages.
A few soybeans have been planted around the state. From our research over the last few years, we maximize our soybean grain yield when we plant the last week of April through around May 15th, so this week! We also have the luxury of lots of flexibility to which maturity group soybean to plant in SC. If you are still selecting soybean varieties I would challenge you to consider herbicide package (no dicamba this year) so if you plan to spray Liberty or Roundup products make sure that seed possess that herbicide trait. I would also look at nematode resistance. We have had lots of nematode related calls in soybean and corn over the last few years, our options for nematicide are over when we close the furrow and resistance in the variety is often the most cost effective!
If you have concerns or questions about what nematode species you may or may not have or the levels that you may have, several of the commodity boards have provided funds for the Edisto REC nematode lab to offer free nematode sampling again this year in 2025 so contact your local agent and they can provide you with the information need to pull and submit samples.
