Indiana Corn, Off to a Good Start
While some parts of Indiana are still struggling with flooded conditions, Central Indiana corn is in and looking good. According to the USDA, 73% of the corn is planted statewide with 53% of the soybeans planted. Both are ahead of last year and of the 5 year average.
Planting in West Central Indiana is, for the most part done, says Ryan Piel, agronomist with DuPont Pioneer, “Good as done for most growers in this area. Very little left to go.” He added that a quick plant, warm weather, and adequate soil moisture have led to very fast and even emergence, “Not too much out there I am worried about in terms of getting the crop up and going. It came out of the ground very quickly and every evenly.” Statewide corn is 32% emerged, with soybeans at 9% emerged.
While HAT’s meteorologist Ryan Martin has rain in the forecast for this week, Piel says some areas have been missed and need some rain, “We are getting to the point where we need some rain. It is in the forecast, but we need to see these rains not miss Central Indiana.” The average temperature last week was 66 degrees, 5.8 degrees above normal for the state. The amounts of rainfall recorded at weather stations varied from 0.00 inches to 1.81 inches over the week. The statewide average for precipitation was 0.36 inches, or 39 percent of normal.
Piel adds that weed pressure, so far, has not been a major problem in his area.