The Crop Tour rolled through Indiana earlier this week. Soybeans, as expected, looked fantastic. Corn, though, didn’t exactly impress. Pro Farmer pegged their Indiana corn estimate at 187.5 bushels, around 3% more than a year ago, but well below what many around here might project. That includes Purdue Extension corn specialist Dan Quinn.
Pro Farmer said they spotted tar spot and other corn diseases as they entered Indiana. Quinn says he’s seen tar spot in many fields, including his own research plots. He’s still anticipating record yields here in Indiana this season.
“A lot of that corn is at a point where even though we have it, it’s really not going to impact it. So, it really comes back to when that tar spot comes in. So, if you’re doing yield estimates now, and you’re finding tar spot in the lower canopy and maybe pushing towards the middle canopy, but that corn is dented or just beginning to dent, we probably don’t expect much of a yield reduction at all from that tar spot.”
Quinn isn’t concerned with the Crop Tour number. In fact, he’s encouraged by the 3% bump from a year ago.
“Last year, I think they were in the low 180s for their estimate for the state, and then it was 203 last year. So, they’re actually ahead in terms of their yield average for the state comparison to last year, which was the state record yield.”
As Quinn does his own informal “crop tour” of the Hoosier State, he’s confident that we’re in good shape for another year of strong yields barring anything crazy happening.
“Just looking at the data, I’d say the eastern part of the state has had some disease issues. They’ve been a little bit more challenged in terms of the overall rainfall and the weather conditions that they’ve had than the western part of the state. But you look at Southwest Indiana- just outstanding crop conditions down there. Central Indiana- outstanding crop conditions.”
Check out my full interview with Quinn below.
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