Corn and soybean crops in north central Indiana are in pretty good shape as we hit the middle of July.
“I tell you what, things were looking pretty solid out there,” says Daniel Stauffer, Specialty Hybrids local field sales representative. “Growers are pretty excited with where we stand right now. We have a long way to go obviously, but from where we started with varying planting dates and moisture levels and just the cool temperatures this spring, the crop got started on a lot of different dates but right now things have greened up for the most part, especially the corn is looking real good and guys are real excited with that.”
He said soybeans are now coming along nicely, and growers are getting more optimistic about that crop.
In corn, Stauffer says variability in planting dates and rainfall is resulting in variability in corn tasseling.
“Tassels are shooting at different times or unevenly in the field. As you’re driving around you see that quite a bit and so that causes some challenges for guys on when to do that fungicide application in the corn. But it also maybe expands the window of pollination by having those tassel shooting a little differently. No it’s not perfect, it’s not ideal, but that’s a benefit that could come from it, the longer window in that corn.”
And he says there are different approaches to when those corn fungicides are being applied.
“Some guys are doing it right before pollination but others are going to wait till beginning brown silk or full brown silk to get as much residual activity out pf their fungicide applications when they do do that,” he told HAT.
Weed pressure is being held in check this year. Insect outbreaks also seem to be minimal, but there is frogeye leaf spot reported in soybeans, and Purdue says northwest Indiana is seeing some tar spot in corn.
This crop update is brought to you by Specialty Hybrids, where it’s your field, our Specialty. Find your local field sales representative online at specialtyhybrids.com.
Listen to the full interview: