Warm Weather, Just What is Needed
This weekend should bring warm and sunny conditions to the Hoosier State, just what our corn and soybean crops need. After a May freeze and 2 plus inches of rain, the Indiana corn and soybean crop may finally get some good growing weather. Mary Gumz, agronomist with DuPont Pioneer, says the young crop is showing signs of stress, “I have seen some signs of frost damage, but these crops will recover since the growing point is still below ground.” Gumz expects to see significant crop condition improvement this weekend, “We have plenty of soil moisture; and, once we get the temperature up a little bit, the plants will start growing more actively. We begin to get more root development and it taps into that fertilizer band; we are going to see the crop take off.”
She said soybean emergence is going well in the northern areas, but heavy rains this week in the central and southern areas may be a different story, “Soybean emergence has been good with very little ponding and soil crusting in northern areas but in areas with heavy rains this may be a problem.” Parts of Central and Southern Indiana saw hail and 2 inch plus rain totals this week. Gums says growers have about another week to get the crop planted before they should consider switching to a shorter season variety.
Hoosier Ag Today meteorologist Rob Wasson sees picture perfect weather expected over the weekend with sunny skies and seasonal temps, “Daytime highs will average in the middle 70s on Saturday and in the upper 70s by Sunday. As we move into next week, farmers can look forward to partly cloudy skies on Monday and Tuesday.” He added the extended two week forecast calls for seasonal temperatures and rainfall statewide.
Listen to the complete report with Mary Gumz on the agronomy page on this web site.