When I chat with Dan ‘Corn’ Quinn and ‘Soybean Shaun’ Casteel on the Purdue Crop Chat Podcast, we typically talk about corn and soybeans. We do plenty of that on the newest Crop Chat episode, available now below or wherever you listen to your podcasts, but we also take some time on this one to talk about wheat.
In addition to soybeans, Casteel’s expertise extends to small grains, including wheat. He says this year’s wheat crop has looked good and wheat growers have done a good job managing this crop for the highest yield potential.
“I haven’t gotten any yield estimates on it, but I have heard some pretty early reports that as early as next week in the southern parts of the state they may be starting to cut. And so that’s a really good opportunity. Think about that. The 10th of June, give or take, to start cutting wheat, that gives you almost a full normal growing season to get that double crop soybean in. So, I think the wheat crop is a good opportunity to get max yield out of that, get the straw that people deal with, but then also to get the double crop bean.”
Casteel believes that wheat growers in central and northern parts of Indiana have a good opportunity again this year to capitalize on double crop soybeans. As we’ve previously reported, Northeast Indiana has been hit hard by rain events this year.
“That’s a part of the state that’s got a lot of wheat and I think there’s a reason why we’ve got a fair amount of wheat there. It’s because we tend to have these wet pockets. So why not get a third crop in there so then we don’t have to in this two-day period (when it’s dry) get all the corn and soybeans in. We’ve got a crop that’s already growing. A third of our land, or at least a fourth of it, is in wheat, so we don’t have to worry about that. Well, that same ground now has an opportunity to get a really good yield on the wheat and maybe even get another crop, which is not always a given year in and year out.”
Casteel has planting tips for those double crop beans in the Purdue Crop Chat. Download it now wherever you get your podcasts or hit the play button below!
