A corn plant growing Tuesday in a field along South Strain Ridge Road is only about 10-11 inches tall. (Rich Janzaruk / Herald-Times)
Though not all of the corn in the state has been planted yet, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is already expecting Indiana’s corn to be of poor quality.
Greg Matli, statistician with the USDA, said the corn is expected to be the fifth lowest in quality since 1986. As of Monday’s report, 38 percent of corn planted is expected to be good to very good quality. The lowest was in 1986, where no corn was good or very good quality, and the next was in 2012, when the state experienced significant drought, with 12 percent good to very good quality.
This is in part due to extreme flooding across the Midwest, which has also diminished crop yields for multiple products, and is expected to affect more later this summer.
According to the National Weather Service office in Indianapolis, the area received 9.58 inches of rain in June, more than 4 inches above normal for the month. In the first half of 2019, more than 30 inches of rain accumulated, which is also above normal.
Wet conditions have not only made for less production, but have barred farmers from planting in fields in the first place. In its weekly crop progress and condition report, the USDA reported Indiana farmers are finally catching up to planting corn and soybeans after June’s torrential rainfalls. As of Monday, 98 percent of corn seeds had been planted, compared with 100 percent planted by early June in 2018.
Soybean planting is 93 percent completed as of Monday, which was also finished by this time last year.
Sadie Davis, Greene County extension office director, said her confidence in local yields is already low due to the wet conditions.
© 2024 HeraldTimesOnline, Bloomington, IN