Southern Indiana Corn in Trouble

Southern Indiana Corn in Trouble

The USDA is predicting record yields for Indiana and rain is currently helping some dry areas of the state, but corn in Southern Indiana is not doing well. It is not that there isn’t good corn in Southern Indiana, there just is not much of it.

Brian Bush
Brian Bush

According to Brian Bush, agronomist with DuPont Pioneer, “The corn we planted in April is in great shape, but that is only about 2% of the acres. The corn that was planted in late May and early June is going backwards.” Bush says it is a combination of planting the  corn in wet conditions and too much heat during pollination, “The heat we had two weeks ago during pollination has really hurt this crop. We are seeing a lot of aborted kernels at the tips of the ears as well as a lot of nitrogen deficiency.”

If all that is not enough, Bush says Rust is hitting the crop, “We are seeing southern rust infect fields on a line from Washington through Seymour and even a bit north of that.” He said the rust could cost growers upwards of 30bpa. But with corn prices so low, some producers are reluctant to spray.

While it is a bit early to tell on soybean yields, Bush feels the soybean yields will be good, “We have good growth, and the plants are loaded with pods. We just need some late August rain to finish them off.”

Listen to the complete DuPont Pioneer agronomy report under the crops tab at our web site.

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