REGION'S FARMERS HOPE DRY SPELL WILL COME SOON; FI3ELD WORK FOR GRAIN CROPS SHOULD BE UNDER WAY

With spring planting approaching, Southeast Missouri farmers are looking to the skies and keeping tabs on weather forecasts these days.

"There are some weather concerns out there," said Terry Birk of the Cape Girardeau County Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service office at Jackson.

A big concern of wheat growers is how late they can apply nitrogen to winter wheat. Corn growers are wondering if frequent rains will stop in time to prepare fields for planting.

"A rainy March and April could result in more soybeans," said Birk. "Farmers are hoping for better weather ahead to start field preparations."

Corn typically is planted in April and early May, although it can be planted into early June.

Although the majority of soybeans are planted between mid-May and mid-June, farmers can wait as late as July 10 to plant.

Farmers are usually in the field by late February, but rains and seepwater near the Mississippi River have prevented field work this year.

More rain could result in more no-till crops, said Birk. No-till farming needs less soil preparation.

Farmers in Cape Girardeau County usually plant about 8,000 acres of no-till corn, over 20 percent of the 35,000-acre corn crop. Soybean growers use no-till methods on about a third of the county's 45,000 acres of beans.

Corn and soybeans are big Missouri crops, with about 1.6 million acres of corn and more than 4.5 million acres of soybeans being planted annually.

The rainy weather has been a problem in wheat fields, say Birk and agronomy specialist Tim Schnakenberg of the Charleston University Extension Center.

Because of wet weather, only about half of the fertilizer has been placed on winter wheat and pastures in Cape Girardeau County, and some of that disappeared, said Birk.

Typically, farmers like to have nitrogen applied on wheat in February. It's clear that most wheat fields are already hurt from the wet weather and lack of nitrogen, said Schnakenberg. Nitrogen should already have been applied, but wheat can benefit from nitrogen until flag-leaf emergence, he said.

Schnakenberg cautioned farmers of possible crop burn with liquid nitrogen. Most of the time nitrogen burn is not damaging, said Schnakenberg. "But as the weather warms up and the crop begins to joint, burn injury could increase."

Schnakenberg said he is also concerned about applying dry fertilizer to wheat. The potential for loss is greater when applying dry fertilizer to wet soils during warm weather, he said. The potential for loss is greatest when the soil surface is moist and drying rapidly, he explained.

Many growers like to mix chemicals with liquid nitrogen for weed control. Since much of the fertilizer applied is dry, there may be less weed-control measures taken."

U.S. Department of Agriculture crop estimates haven't been released yet, but Illinois Cooperative Extension Service representative Darrell Good expects big crops of soybeans and corn this year.

Expectations are for 81 to 85 million acres of corn and 65 million acres of soybeans, for a combined total of 147 million acres, said Good. The largest combined acreage during the past 20 years was in 1980, when 154 million acres of corn and soybeans were planted.

Nationally, cotton producers will be cutting down on planting this year, from 14.6 million acres in 1996, to 13.6 million acres in 1997, down 7.1 percent, said the National Cotton Council's annual Planting Intentions Survey.

The bulk of Missouri cotton and rice is grown in Southeast Missouri. Cotton acreage in Southeast Missouri is around 500,000 acres, and is usually planted between April 20 and June 1. Rice is usually planted by the end of May, with about 130,000 acres grown annually in the state. The bulk of it is grown in Butler and Stoddard counties.