Early Corn Emergence Looking Good
Corn planting in Indiana continue to move rapidly along, and early corn emergence is reported to be good. In Northwest Indiana, close to 90% of the crop has been planted and early emergence is going well, that according to Ryan Piel, DuPont Pioneer agronomist, “Of the crops that I have seen out of ground, they look very good.” He said, in some areas, the subsoil is compacted because the ground was very wet when the crop was planted. This has been a condition reported in other parts of the state. Piel, like other agronomists, says, if the rains continue to provide good moisture, this condition will not be an issue, however, if dry conditions set in, root development will suffer. He told HAT West Central Indiana has about 40% of the crop planted because rains have been heavier and more frequent in this area.
Piel says heavy weed and insect pressure may pose a threat to the young crop, “Watch out in particular for black cutworms. The storms we have had brought the moths to the area, and trap counts have been high on the west side of the state.” He also said early weed pressure has been an issue and could pose problems for early planted crops. He urges growers to monitor early crop growth when replant may not be an option. More Indiana crop condition reports are on the DuPont Pioneer Agronomy page on this web site and in the agronomy section of the HAT app for Smartphones and tablets.