The U.S. Department of Agriculture is forecasting similar corn yields to last year’s in Indiana, but many Hoosier farmers aren’t that optimistic. That’s according to the Indiana Farm Bureau.
Harvest Season Approaching, Local Fields Looking for Drying Targets
The harvest season will be coming up over the next two months and Indiana is expected to have an above average corn production year.
The pace of the 2016 corn and soybean harvest will likely depend on the varieties planted in local fields, and Purdue Extension Agricultural Educator Phil Woolery says each farmer will treat their crops differently as well.
Soybean Yields Recover After Wet Spring
This year’s harvest is moving along well, thanks to dry weather continuing in recent weeks. Continue reading
“Tar Spot” Fungus Identified in Northern Indiana Fields
A corn disease not previously reported in the United States has been spotted in northern Indiana.
Plant pathologists say “tar spot” is a fungal disease that develops brown lesions on the corn leaf. Black ascomata later appear, protruding from the leaf. The structures produce spores which spread the “tar spot” fungus.
Warm Weather Dries Fields, Presents Drought Stress
The warm streak in July has been somewhat welcome in area farm fields.
That’s according to Purdue Extension Agricultural Educator Phil Woolery. He says warming temperatures and a lack of precipitation in the area the second half of July has allowed time for soil to dry. That follows what is considered a record breaking year for moisture in June.
Continue reading
Corn, Soybean Crops Showing Drought Stress
Chad Rushing, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator at Purdue Extension, says the corn crops had plenty of moisture during pollination, but the crops are now suffering from the lack of moisture.
“Corn especially is exhibiting signs of drought stress and that has affected kernel development and resulted in some fields aborting kernels which will lead to a reduced yield impact,” stated Rushing.
Crops Not As Healthy As Last Year, According to Crop Report
Less than 40 percent of the corn crop this year is in good to excellent condition, according to the weekly Indiana Crop and Weather Report for the week ending Aug. 21. Most of the corn, 37 percent, is in fair condition. Thirty-eight percent of the soybean crop is in good condition. This is in contrast to last year, in which 59 percent of corn was in the good to excellent condition.
According to the report, scattered rains brought some relief to a few areas of the state, but it wasn’t enough to stop the crop conditions from continuing to decline. A lot of corn was planted late, causing some of the crops to mature later than expected. This could be problematic, as these late crops need ideal weather conditions in order to mature properly.
Spring Planting Behind Schedule
Starke County farmers, like those in neighboring counties, are up against a deadline for getting their corn crop in the ground. County Extension Director Alan Kurtz said yesterday that the corn crop ideally should have been in a month ago.
“It’s not so much a specific date, but we have a trend as you go over time, that the later the gets the lower your yield potential may be,” said Kurtz. “We’re getting into the time frame now as we come into early June where farmers are facing that decision of whether it’s worth continuing to plant corn or to consider other options.”
Wet Season Delays Spring Planting for Starke and Pulaski County Farmers
A rainy and cool spring season has caused planting problems for farmers in Starke and Pulaski Counties.
“Those things combined have made for a very wet season which, in general, has delayed planting and we’re well behind the average planting for this time of the year. I’m specifically talking about corn planting. For example, the information that we had this past week indicated that across the state, we had planted two percent of the corn, compared to sixty-nine percent at the same time last year,” said Alan Kurtz, Ag and Natural Resources Educator at Purdue Extension.
