How are corn and soybean crops coming along near the cities of Marion, Decatur and Fort Wayne? Luke Hesterman with the Specialty Hybrids team, who is based out of Allen County, says he likes what he’s seeing of the corn and soybean crops across northeastern Indiana.
“We feel very optimistic and fortunate right now. We’ve been blessed the later part of the summer, so hopefully we can finish this crop off and bring it home safely,” says Hesterman, who says in spite of the area receiving nearly ten inches of rain in less than 24 hours back in June, corn and soybean crops have battled through challenging weather conditions, including a late start to planting in May due to wet conditions, then a lack of moisture throughout much of June and July.
“We lost the low spots and the replanted replant got drowned out again [during the heavy rain event in June], but since then, we’ve been catching timely rains every seven to ten days, [about] half and inch to an inch, and the crop looks as good as its looked in a long time,” says Hesterman.
He says he expects a later start to harvest in the fall.
“That partially is due to the later start of May planting,” says Hesterman. “The crop has just not seen the stress that we see historically, so I think it’s just kept the pedal to the metal and hasn’t missed a beat, other than a little bit too much moisture from one time to another, so I think you know it’s not going to die prematurely likely we’ve seen some years either.”
Hesterman says a number of different factors have minimized the stresses that have impacted crops in years’ past.
“Me personally, I have not seen any Tar Spot,” according to Hesterman. “The only thing I’ve seen in corn is a little bit of Gray Leaf Spot, and that’s very minimal. There’s been a huge emphasis on fungicide being applied, so maybe that’s part of it, but we just had favorable weather for healthy crops.”
Luke says the only thing that’s needed is some more rain for soybeans to carry farmers through the homestretch into harvest.
“The later rains are going to be very, very favorable to the soybeans as far as pod sets and pod size” says Hesterman. “There’s a little bit of sudden death that’s starting to pop up, but other than, [there’s been] minimal insect feeding [and] beans look good as well.”
Click BELOW to hear C.J. Miller’s news report featuring Luke Hesterman with Specialty Hybrids on crop progress in northeastern Indiana.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio
Click BELOW to hear the FULL interview with Luke Hesterman with Specialty Hybrids on crop progress in northeastern Indiana.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio
At Specialty Hybrids, it’s your field, our Specialty. Find your local field sales representative and dealer online at www.specialtyhybrids.com.