This year, vegetation has accelerated significantly. On average, by two or three weeks. The silage corn harvest is already halfway through, and there are also farms that have finished it completely. The grain corn harvest also started in early September. So far, it has not been very advanced, but this is already changing, because corn digested by drought is often ready for harvest. What about the price? While last week it was still at the level of PLN 480/t of wet (30%) grain, on Sunday we had information from farmers that they were being offered contracts for up to PLN 560.
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National Corn Day in Szepietowo is behind us. Drought in the background (gallery)
The release of water by corn occurs very quickly
This was confirmed by Bartosz Stopczyk, Director of the Seed Department of Agrosimex, who was present in Szepietowo.
– We are dealing with a decidedly accelerated vegetation season and this affects all crops, whether cereals or rapeseed. Rapeseed sowing went extremely quickly and it will be possible to reseed it. Corn is also much drier than in previous years. The temperature, sun, wind that blew through the field cause water to be released at a very fast pace. And we will definitely soon be dealing with a very strong intensification of corn harvest, because it is ready for harvest – Stopczyk told the farmer.pl portal.
Bartosz Stopczyk, director of the Seed Department at Agrosimex, photo by M. Tyszka
Will it benefit farmers? – The rules remain unchanged. Those who can dry and store it will probably wait for better prices. Although the price of wet corn is not the worst, we have heard about contracts for PLN 560. Those who have early varieties that will come off the field with low humidity have a chance to get better money from the start. When the harvest starts like an avalanche, prices will probably drop. And then they will increase again as demand allows. The harvest will be good. But such is not expected in Hungary or Romania, for example – Bartosz Stopczyk told us.
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Dry in Podlasie
The Podlaskie region and corn cultivation are particularly affected by drought this year. This was also confirmed for farmer.pl by the director of the Podlaskie Agricultural Center in Szepietowo – Tadeusz Kruszewski.
Tadeusz Kruszewski, director of PODR in Szepietowo, photo by M. Tyszka
– Water shortages are indeed very large. Rain in the months of April and May was negligible. From June 20 to August 20, according to IUNG, in the region where we are, the water deficit was -200 mm. This had the greatest impact on spring crops, mainly cereals. Despite the fact that corn is a thermophilic plant and does not react so strongly to water deficits, this year it gave up due to the lack of rainfall and the harvest will certainly be much lower than last year. It is estimated that in the case of "grain" it will be even 50 percent less, especially on weaker soils, in class V and VI – emphasized Kruszewski.
Mazovia and Podlasie were hit the hardest
Sylwia Szymańczak from Elicit Plant Polska, who is present in Szepietowo, is also observing huge losses in maize cultivation both in Podlasie, but also in Mazovia and the Łódź Region.
Sylwia Szymańczak from Elicit Plant Polska, photo by M. Tyszka
– The effects of drought are visible throughout the country. They will vary depending on the region. This year, we can see that drought is affecting Mazovia and Podlasie more. Such historical areas have always been Wielkopolska and West Pomerania, and they have better conditions this year – she emphasized.
As she noted, this is clearly visible in the plants. – Where we did not take care to ensure that the plantations were well prepared, to retain as much water as possible in the soil, these effects are much more visible. Where simplified cultivation was used, this corn is doing better – Szymańczak noted.
In the western Mazovia region, she noticed that there was a problem already during emergence. Later, in the most important July, there was some rainfall, but it was too sparse. "I remind you that the moment of corn flowering is the most critical in terms of water demand," she noted.
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How much does a cob of corn weigh?
Important rainfall pattern
Marcin Liszewski from Bayer Crop Science talked about this on farmer.pl.
– For some time now, we have been observing that the distribution of precipitation is becoming more and more point-like. In one place it is raining, in another it is sunny, in another it is cloudy. Yes, the total amount of precipitation during the year in Poland is constant, but the distribution is not comfortable for plant development. During one heavy rain, for example 80 liters can fall on a square meter, but the plant will not use it. And although it is counted towards the average, it does not affect the final effect, and in between we observe dry periods – emphasizes Liszewski.
Marcin Liszewski from Bayer Crop Science, photo by M. Tyszka
As he notes, this is a very big challenge for plant breeding and the drive to obtain varieties that will allow agricultural producers to be as independent as possible from weather conditions.
– The choice of variety for cultivation alone determines 20-25 percent of the final production result. We noticed many years ago that the correct selection of varieties for a given type of soil is crucial. That is why we diversify our assortment in such a way as to have specific products for different conditions – adds Liszewski.
What about seed purchases?
Unofficially, we learn from various sources that the prices of maize seed material for the 2025 sowing season are unlikely to change. Although they were high this year, the area of this species was only 50 thousand ha lower than the record and amounted to as much as 1.1814 million ha.
The potential of cultivation, according to Dr. Karol Marciniak, president of the Polish Seed Chamber, may amount to as much as 2 million hectares. In his opinion, this will depend on the economic aspects of growing other species, especially sugar beet.
Dr. Karol Marciniak, president of PIN, photo by M. Tyszka
– This season, farmers bought a very large part of the seed material just before sowing corn. Many plantations, especially early corn varieties, were actually sown after catch crops, which we had not noticed before. The season was accelerated – Dr. Marciniak told us.
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The state of corn crops, the course of vegetation and the forecast for the new season