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Indiana farmer says this crop has had challenges from the start

An Indiana farmer says this is the most expensive crop he’s ever raised, and it isn’t even in the bin yet.

Ben Kron, who farms in the southwest corner of the state, tells Brownfield he’s not sure if he’s ever seen nitrogen at this price level.  “There’s maybe been one other time when nitrogen has been this high, but the fertilizer side, I don’t think fertilizer or chemical has ever been this high,” he says.  “Fuel has never been this high.  There’s a lot working against us.”

Kron says this crop has faced challenges from the start and they had such a late start to the growing season, many fields were planted when they were probably still a little too wet.  “That really doesn’t help on the compaction end of things,” he says.  “Your seed trench really tightens up and dries up.  Getting root systems down in some places is really difficult.  And if you don’t have a good root system down for your plants, water becomes a lot more scarce.”

He says they do run some pivots and those fields look okay, but their dry-land corn is starting to look more like pineapple. 

AUDIO: Ben Kron, Indiana farmer