Indiana Crops off to a Slow Start
The pace of planting has been quick as farmers dodge bouts of rain to get the crop planted. In NW Indiana which features some of the state’s most productive row crop counties, planting is all but complete. According to David Cosgray, agronomist with DuPont Pioneer, “We are about 95% done with corn and 80% done with soybeans in the White, Tippecanoe, and Carroll County area, and 70% corn and 50% soybean in the La Porte County area.” While much of the crop is emerging, Cosgray says it is taking a long time to germinate, “A lot of fields are taking 20 days and more to come out of the ground.” He said corn that was planted around April 20, has just emerged in the past week. He added the corn that is up is very yellow because of the cold weather and lack of sunshine.
Black cutworm has been seen in the area, and Cosgray says growers should be on the lookout for seedling diseases, “Watch your corn fields as they transition from yellow to green color; note those areas that are slow to green up or don’t green up at all, that could be a symptom of seedling disease.” He feels Pythium will be especially prevalent this year.
Listen to the complete report with David Cosgray on the agronomy page of this web page.