News

Indiana crops: 77% corn and 72% soybeans planted

Corn and soybean progress remains ahead of schedule for Indiana farmers.

Jon Sparks, who farms in the central part of the state, says they’re almost finished planting soybeans, but still have about 50% of the corn crop to get in the ground.  “We were a little more aggressive early planting beans than we were corn with the cold temperatures that we had at the end of April,” he says. “I think probably like a lot of others, in retrospect, I kind of wish we’d have been a little more aggressive. We’ve had a stretch here that’s been a little on the damp side and it’s kind of all where we need to plant corn.”

Statewide, corn planting is 77% complete with 47% of the crop emerged.  Soybeans are 72% planted with 40% emerged.

He tells Brownfield emergence has been slow in his area.  “But, everything keeps kind of falling into place,” he says. “Those early beans we planted from the middle of April on have come around, and I think we’ve got a good stand everywhere. The earlier corn has all kind of come together and looks pretty good now too.” However, he says emergence has been an issue in some of the later planted fields. As for his wheat, “The wheat crops not going to have a lot of straw to it, I don’t think, but it looks pretty good at this point,” he says.

The wheat crop statewide is 53% headed and is rated 78% good to excellent.  Range and pastures are rated 70% good to excellent.  The first cutting of alfalfa hay is 10% complete and other hay first cutting is 8% complete. 

Soil moisture decreased from last week with 83% of Topsoil and 81% Subsoil moisture adequate to surplus.