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Crop conditions aren’t the only concern

Variability will be the word used most to describe harvest in Indiana this year.

Central Indiana farmer Brian Presnal says his crop conditions range from non-existent to above average.

He says that largely depends on when the crops were planted.  “Crops that were plated the first 10 days of May definitely did better than crops that were planted later in May,” he says.  “Those later planted crops became stunted and saturated and fought the torrential rains and are in pretty poor condition.”

He tells Brownfield the drop in commodity prices has created an even more challenging agricultural environment.  “Input costs have become an area we’re really going to need to watch,” he says.  “Hopefully we can get the fertilizer costs down.  Fuel prices have come down in recent weeks – so that is going to help some.”

Overall, Presnall says this year has “been a challenge”.