By United Soybean Board
Planting Patrol: A mild winter and rainy spring make for an interesting planting season in Louisiana
Like many farmers, waiting on the weather is nothing new for Charles Cannatella, who farms in Melville, Louisiana.
“The earlier we can get planted, the better the yields are going to be since we get so hot here,” says Cannatella. “With the weather-pattern changes we’ve seen lately, we’ve been abnormally wet, which means we’re often not getting planted early enough to maximize yield potential.”
Louisiana’s heavy rains this spring already claimed a couple hundred acres of grain sorghum that Cannatella planted. But other than replanting those acres to soybeans, he said his rotation will be similar to the past 40 years he’s been farming: about 700 acres of corn, 2,800 acres of soybeans and 200 acres of grain sorghum.
“Besides all the rain, nothing has really affected my cropping decisions,” says Cannatella. “We’re doing the normal rotation where we rotate land every three years out of soybeans.”
Southern seed specialties
Everybody looks at yield, but with high heat and plenty of moisture, southern farmers – including Cannatella – pay special attention to the disease package and maturity groups at seed-selection time.
“We’re susceptible to a lot of disease and insects, so I look for a seed package with resistance to those diseases,” says Cannatella. “I am also particular about the maturity group because it gets so hot here, and planting is often delayed.”
Cannatella, who has been farming since he was 16 years old, says the southern heat will also play a role in insect pressure.
“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens with insects,” says Cannatella. “We had a very mild winter with no freezes and only one frost, so I’m pretty sure we’ll see plenty of insects like stink bugs and worms this year.”
Sustainable and ready for weeds
With an eye to future sustainability, Cannatella is using several practices on his farm that help him save money, time and soil.
“We’ve gone to quite a bit of no-till or minimum-till to save on fuel and equipment costs,” he says.
Another way that Cannatella is saving on input costs is through precision ag techniques that help him use his resources wisely and tend to specific areas within a field.
“We’ve also concentrated more on our fertilizer program to up our yield a little,” he says. “As a result, we’re using less fertilizer, but putting it in the right places in the field.”
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