May Ag Ops Calendar

Quick Menu: General Crop Operations | Vegetables | Beef Operations

*May Crop Operations* (Based on 10 yrs. of Kentucky Crop Reports)
	First Week	Second Week	Third Week	Fourth Week
Forages	---	---	1st cutting Alfalfa 25% complete	1st cutting Alfalfa 40% complete
Small Grains	Army Worm Development BEGINS	Wheat 30% headed Army Worm Development (cont.)	Army Worm Development (cont.)	Army Worm Development (cont.)
Soybeans	Planting BEGINS	5% is now planted	15% is now planted	-----
Tobacco	-----	-----	10% of crop is set	20% of crop is set
Corn	-----	50% of crop planted	65% of crop planted	75% of crop planted European Corn Borer becomes ACTIVE
General Farm Operations	-----	-----	-----	-----

NOTE: CORN yield is reduced 1% for each day past May 15th that planting is delayed.

*Usual Crop Planting And Harvesting Dates For May* (from Kentucky Agricultural Statistics Service)
	Planting Dates	Harvesting Dates
Corn	Entire month	-----
Soybeans	BEGINS May 10th	-----
Burley Tobacco (Type 31)	BEGINS May 10th	-----
Dark Fired Tobacco (Type 22 & 23)	BEGINS May 12th	-----
One Sucker Tobacco (Type 35)	BEGINS May 12th	-----
Green River Tobacco (Type 36)	BEGINS May 12th	-----
Sorghum Grain	BEGINS May 10th	-----
Alfalfa Hay	-----	BEGINS May 5th
All Other Hay	-----	BEGINS May 15th
Popcorn	Entire month	-----

Quick Menu: General Crop Operations | Beef Operations

*May Vegetable Gardener's Calendar for Western KY* (from Home Vegetable Gardening in Kentucky)
May 1st	Start seeds outdoors for SWEET CORN, MUSTARD, RADISHES, and LETTUCE.
May 7th	Start seeds outdoors for GREEN BEANS and LIMA BEANS. Move transplants to garden for TOMATOES, MUSKMELONS, WATERMELONS, and SQUASH.
NOTE: Add 10 days for Central KY and 15 for Eastern KY to these dates for spring and summer crops.

*May Garden Safe Planting Dates* (from Home Vegetable Gardening in Kentucky)
	Earliest Safe Planting Date		Latest Safe Planting Date
	Date	Area of KY	Date	Area of KY
Asparagus (crowns)	-----	-----	Spring Only	All
Beans (snap)	May 1st	Eastern Mt.	-----	-----
Beans (lima)	May 1st May 10th	Central Eastern Mt.	-----	-----
Sweet Corn	May 1st	Eastern Mt.	-----	-----
Cucombers	May 1st May 10th	Central Eastern Mt.	-----	-----
Eggplant (plants)	May 1st May 10th May 15th	Western Central Eastern Mt.	-----	-----
Muskmelons	May 10th May 15th	Central Eastern Mt.	-----	-----
Okra	May 10th May 15th	Central Eastern Mt.	-----	-----
Onions (sets)	-----	-----	Spring Only	All
Peas	-----	-----	Spring Only	All
Peppers (plants)	May 1st May 10th May 20th	Western Central Eastern Mt.	-----	-----
Sweet Potatoes	May 1st May 10th May 20th	Western Central Eastern Mt.	-----	-----
Pumpkins	May 5th May 10th	Central Eastern Mt.	-----	-----
Southern Peas	May 5th May 10th	Central Eastern Mt.	-----	-----
Summer Squash	May 10th May 15th	Central Eastern Mt.	-----	-----
Tomatoes (plants)	May 5th May 15th	Central Eastern Mt.	-----	-----
Watermelons	May 5th May 15th	Central Eastern Mt.	-----	-----
Winter Squash	May 10th May 15th	Central Eastern Mt.	-----	-----

Quick Menu: General Crop Operations | Vegetables

*May Beef Operations* (from the Beef Integrated Resource Management Calendar)
Spring Calving Herd	Breeding season BEGINS. Continue supplying supplemental magnesium until daytime temperatures are consistently above 60 degrees.
Fall Calving Herd	Weaning period.
All Cattle	Don't start fly control until fly population builds up.
Forages	Start hay harvests for quality forage. Seed warm season annuals for supplemental forage as needed. Seed warm season perennial grasses. Clip seedheads to prevent seedhead formation on fescue and to control weeds as needed. Consider herbicide options. Rotate pastures as needed.