Frost covered much of Indiana on Sunday night and has brought the growing season to an end for many Northern Indiana growers. Kosciusko County farmer Todd Hoffman told HAT the frost Sunday night had a big impact on some of the late-planted crops that had not quite reached maturity, “We had a fair amount of double crop soybeans in this area that got hit hard. I believe the frost was heavy enough to put an end to them.” He also indicated some late-planted corn had not finished developing before the frost came.
Overall, the harvest in his area has been going well. Hoffman said, while soybean yields are highly variable, they are generally better than expected, “Soybeans that had heavy spider mite infestation are yielding about 30bpa, but where the mites were controlled we are seeing yields of 45 to 50 bpa.” He said the overall attitude among farmers is that the yields are better than expected.
Unlike last year, field dry down is not a problem this year. Hoffman said most of the beans are coming out of the field at around 18%, allowing growers to put them directly into the bin or take them to the elevator. He estimates that both corn and soybean harvests will be complete in about another 2 weeks which will leave plenty of time for fall fieldwork, “Field conditions are excellent for fall fertilizer application or other activities.” He added there are very few fields with any wet spots.
[audio:https://www.hoosieragtoday.com//wp-content/uploads//2012/10/frostwrap.mp3|titles=Frost Hits Indiana soybeans]Listen to the complete interview with Todd Hoffman on the agronomy page or audio section of the Hoosier Ag Today Smartphone app. These reports are made possible by Advanced Ag Solutions.