Indiana Soybeans Drying Down Too Fast
Weekend rains brought the Hoosier harvest to a halt, but a dry week ahead will let combines roll again. The Indiana corn harvest is 29% complete with soybeans 41% harvested in the state. Nationally, corn is 27% harvested and soybeans 42% harvested, according to the latest crop update from the USDA.
Brian Bush, with DuPont Pioneer, says fields in SE Indiana have been drying down almost too quickly, “There are some soybean fields that are at 8% moisture, and when they get that dry you are giving away yield.” As for the soybean yields, whole field yields are not too bad. “You need to look at the whole field average,” said Bush. “Some places in the field you will get 80 bpa, but then in the washed out places it is zero. I think on average most soybean fields are yielding in the mid 50 bpa range.” Bush said, without the washed out sections, it would have been an outstanding harvest.
Corn moisture levels are also falling fast, averaging in the 14% to 16% range. Bush said, despite shallow roots and nitrogen loss, the corn crop is actually holding up pretty well, “We have had some wind blow through here in SE Indiana but the crops are still standing.” He said the stalks are weak and urges growers to harvest as soon as possible, “I don’t think this crop can stand past Halloween.”
Hoosier Ag Today meteorologist Ryan Martin says that most of this week will be dry and that most of October will let the harvest roll with only minor interruptions, “We have a minor little system coming through for the 14th – 15th that may be worth up to 0.25” and 50% coverage. Then, we have a much bigger and more impressive front for the 17th-18th that can bring 0.50″ to 1.5” rains and 100% coverage. But…with that system being so far out in the forecast pattern, we also expect that rain coverage and those amounts to be dramatically different once we get to the actual arrival.” Martin says he sees no early frost for Indiana, “We see no major cold snaps coming anytime soon.”
