Clouds cut Corn Yields in Southern Indiana

Clouds cut Corn Yields in Southern Indiana

Combines are rolling across Indiana as early harvest activity picks up steam.  Early yields are good, but not great, in Southern Indiana. Dan Emmert, agronomist with DuPont Pioneer, says early planted corn fields are being harvested in Southern Indiana, “Moisture levels are running in the low to mid 20% range on corn planted in that April 15-19^th window.” Most of the corn, however, was not planted until mid-to-late May and is not quite ready for harvest.

Emmert says the yields are good but not great and are being hurt by the excessive clouds and rain the southern part of the state had this summer, “The amount of sunlight and the quality of sunlight we got this summer was very low and impacted yield. It will determine if you get good yields or great yields.” He added that is one of the factors that will be holding  yields back, “We just had way too much cloud cover this summer during pollination and grain fill.”

Rain continues to be an issue and Emmert says, as a result, ear molds are a serious problem, “It is going to be a bad year for diplodia, and trichoderma, and penicillium ear molds. Especially with upright ears and open husks, there is a lot of moisture getting into the ears; and that is a great environment for those molds to spread.”

More on crop conditions under the crops tab on our web site.