News

Crop conditions continue to deteriorate

Excess moisture and continued flooding are the biggest contributors to the state’s declining crop conditions.

According to the latest weekly crop and weather report just 48 percent of the state’s corn crop is rated good to excellent and 21 percent is rated very poor to poor.  Soybean planting is not yet completed with 96 percent in the ground – 49 percent of the crop is rated good to excellent and 19 percent is rated very poor to poor.

Purdue Extension corn specialist Bob Nielsen says the damage to the corn crop is wide spread and it varies across the state.  “It’s coming at a time of year for corn where folks in the northern half of the state it’s really a little late to think about replant,” he says.  “I did put out an article that helps guys think through possibly switching to an extremely early maturity corn if they really want to replant some of the crop.”

But, Nielsen says that’s a move of desperation and one he doesn’t recommend.

In other crops around the state, 68 percent of the winter wheat has matured with 18 percent harvested and 88 percent of the first cutting of hay and 11 percent of the second cutting is complete.  Ninety-nine percent of the topsoil moisture is called adequate to surplus.