Talk to Indiana farmer Jim Lochtefeld in Jay County and you’ll find he uses the word hope a good deal. He hopes next year is much better for Midwest and Indiana crops. And he hopes this year’s bean crop isn’t as bad as USDA projects. Hope can be the best medicine in a year of drought, and Lochtefeld’s fields were hit so hard by drought that he called the corn a total loss in mid-July.
He brought us up to date on the crops in a HAT Field Update Wednesday afternoon.
“From what I’ve been hearing the guys have been chopping and the insurance adjusters have been saying anywhere from zero to 70 bushels an acre in this area,” he said. “We’re still hoping we can go through and shell and hopefully average 50. That’s our hope now, to see if we can get 50 bushels an acre and make it worthwhile. But the beans, we had some August rains so we’re still hoping beans can do between 35 and 40. They’re short but hopefully there aren’t too many missing beans in pods and we can get close to that yield average.”
Just when harvest will start has been up for debate in recent days.
“We’re debating if we should go after what corn is out there first just because I’ve heard there’s a lot of stalk lodging going on and a lot of ears dropping already because of all the heat stress. Beans are probably two weeks off so we’re not sure if we want to go dip in and start cutting the corn a little wet where it’s at, or just go and start and finish beans and then take what corn there is.”
While he waits on harvest to begin Lochtefeld also hopes livestock producers can hang on during the difficult months ahead because of feed prices.
Hear more in the HAT Field Update at the Agronomy page, sponsored by Advanced Ag Solutions.[audio:https://www.hoosieragtoday.com//wp-content/uploads//2012/09/Jim-Lochtefeld-hoping-for-good-bean-yields.mp3|titles=Jim Lochtefeld hoping for good bean yields]