Indiana harvest is essentially wrapped up according to the Indiana office of National Agricultural Statistics Service. They say the exception is a few counties in east central Indiana that are being delayed by muddy conditions. Across the state in Montgomery County David Virgin finished corn and soybean harvest two weeks ago and considers himself lucky not only with the consistent flow of harvest activities, but also decent corn yields considering the drought and record bean yields.
“I was very pleased and fortunate. I’m almost ashamed to say my worst fields were 57 bushels per acre and my best overall was 64 yield average.”
Some bean fields were so good that Virgin took video of the monitor for proof of yields hitting triple digits.
“Yes I did,” he told HAT. “I took a video going through one of my ponds, or normally it’s a pond, and I actually tagged a 101. I got it on video and sent it to my neighbor. It was an awesome bean harvest.”
The key for Virgin’s soybeans was a familiar story across the state, timely rains late in the season.
“You know it was pretty scary. It wasn’t until we got those rains the last of July and first of August that saved us. Up to that point it was looking kind of bleak but that last rain came in and filled things out. The height of the beans wasn’t normal but of course height doesn’t mean anything, but it sure was nerve wracking there for awhile.”
He feels fortunate about some helpful rains that also assisted a corn crop that struggled all year. And not everybody in the area got those same rains.
“My low side was 115 (bpa) and my best corn went 175, and that was corn after corn up in Clinton County. And I was very fortunate because I had neighbors 5 and 6 miles on either side of me that had 50 and 70 bushel crops.”
What were lessons learned for David Virgin in the drought of 2012? One is to revamp the cover crop program after a first year foray into that arena. Hear more in the full HAT Field Update at the Agronomy page, sponsored by Advanced Ag Solutions.[audio:https://www.hoosieragtoday.com//wp-content/uploads//2012/11/Record-soybeans-for-David-Virgin.mp3|titles=Record soybeans for David Virgin]