Corn Planting Date Study

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 eight-year time period from 2018-2025, the ideal planting window for corn has been the 3rd week of April through 1st week of May. Highest yield losses have been late June plantings with losses of -68 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.

Corn Planting Date Study Results

It is interesting to note that 2nd week of May plantings have fallen short of average yield in our multi-year study data, due to the commonality of "Mother's Day Massacre" storm events.

Past Study Videos

Study Details 

Study data collected 2018-2025 at the PTI Farm in Pontiac, IL.