In southwest Indiana and the Jackson County area a few farmers have completed harvest, but Don Shoemaker estimates most of the area is about 2/3 through harvest. He has a week more for his corn harvest followed by cutting of the double crop beans, and so far it has been a quick harvest pace like much of the state.
“Everything seemed to start a little earlier. We started with silage and then we went into popcorn harvest and then to first crop soybeans. Now we’re on corn and everything seems to be ahead of schedule. Corn is dry coming out of the field. We have not dried anything yet as we’re getting into corn harvest.”
He added, “Weather has been great for soybean harvest. Whether you’re done or not it looks like there’s a few more days to go, so that’s been moving along pretty rapidly. I think most guys will lean towards getting their soybeans done before they worry about corn, just not knowing if those days are going to be quite as nice in the upcoming weeks.”
Soybean moisture has run in the 11-13 percent range according to Shoemaker. Like most of Indiana, there has been a lot of yield variability, and he struggles with exactly why that is on his land.
“Corn yields have been so variable on the sand. I think we’ve lost some of our nutrients, particularly nitrogen, so those yields are lower than we thought they would be. Then other areas are exceptional. There’s not really a whole lot of rhyme or reason as to why it’s good in one area and bad in another, but hopefully it will turn out to be average. It’s certainly variable to say the least.”
Soybean yields were generally in the low 50’s this year.
“Year in and year out that’s not bad yield, but it’s certainly not as high as it was last year,” Shoemaker told HAT.