News From Terre Haute, Indiana

Local & Bistate

Discussion

Welcome to our online comments feature. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable as well as posts that are attacking other users. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.
comments powered by Disqus
June 9, 2009

Wabash Valley farmers behind schedule

By Arthur Foulkes

TERRE HAUTE — It’s crunch time for planting corn in the Wabash Valley.

A cool, wet spring has put corn planting well behind the normal schedule, according to data provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“It’s been extremely wet,” said Terry Hayhurst, a farmer in southern Vigo County. Hayhurst is working to plant what’s left of his expected corn crop this week. As of Tuesday afternoon, he had about three-fourths of his corn planted and a little under 100 acres to go, he said.

“I’ll keep planting until it rains,” Hayhurst said.

Ideally, corn should be planted by May 10. After that date, yields start to drop between one and two bushels per acre, said Jim Luzar, Extension educator for the Purdue University Extension office in Vigo County. After June 1, yields start to fall by about two bushels per acre, he said.

“There’s no way to get around the fact that planting in June is not ideal,” Luzar said.

Many farmers will stop planting corn and switch to soybeans if it rains today, Luzar noted. Soybean planting season ends a little later than corn planting season.

Corn yields will average about 175 bushels per acre for corn planted by May 1. By June 10, yields fall to around 123 bushels per acre, according to a Purdue study that looked at average yields in Central Illinois, Luzar said.

As of June 7, about 90 percent of Hoosier corn had been planted compared with a five-year average of 98 percent, USDA figures show. Soybeans also are behind schedule in Indiana. As of June 7, about 69 percent of soybeans had been planted statewide compared with the five-year average of 87 percent.

While Hoosier farmers are behind schedule on average, things have been especially tough in the southern half of the state, Luzar said. “We’d be doing good to have half of our beans planted around here,” he said.

Apart from the timing of planting, several other factors can affect crop yields, Luzar noted. These other factors include temperature and rainfall after planting as well as crop disease and insects.

Although planting season has been delayed, warm and moist soil is helping the seeds that have been planted, Luzar noted. Corn has been “spiking through the ground” within a week of being planted, he said. “That’s a good thing. … What’s planted has been looking good.”

Hayhurst, who has been farming since the 1980s, also said that several things besides the timing of planting can influence crop yields in the end. He recalled an especially dry year in the 1980s when he told TV reporters that conditions were pointing toward a very low yield year. It ended up being an average year, he said. Even last year, despite replanting caused by the June 7 flooding, yields were about average, he said.

“You really don’t know what you have until you put it in the bin,” Hayhurst said.

Anyone with questions about planting can contact the Purdue Extension office in Vigo County at (812) 462-3371. More information also is available at www.kingcorn.org/cafe.

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local & Bistate
Multimedia

Like us on Facebook!
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
TribStar.com Poll
Join the Conversation
Helium
Front page
AP Video
Raw Video: Greek Rioting Ahead of Austerity Vote Greece Passes New Austerity Deal Amid Rioting Coroner: Houston Autopsy Results Weeks Away Pop Music Superstar Whitney Houston Dies at 48 Raw Video: Child Rescued After Kosovo Avalanche Raw Video: Whitney Houston's Last Performance Reaction to Houston's Death at Clive Davis Party Whitney Houston's Church Mourns Her Passing Severe Cold Wreaks Havoc in China Police: Houston Found Dead in Her Hotel Room Fans 'Speechless' Over Houston's Death Fuel Removal Under Way on Capsized Italian Ship Snow Strands Italian Towns 79 Turtles Seized at Shanghai Airport Video of M.I.A's Obscene Halftime Gesture Paul Suffers Narrow Loss to Romney in Maine Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life Recording Superstar Whitney Houston Dead at 48 Today in History for Tuesday, February 12th Stocks Fall Sharply As Greek Deal Is Held Up
NDN Video
'Rumor Has It' Adele's Rolling in the Grammys Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson after the Pebble Beach Pro Am-2/12 Exclusive Video: Bobbi Kristina Leaving Hospital Raw Video: Greek Rioting Ahead of Austerity Vote 2012 Grammys: Rihanna Raw Video: Aurora Borealis As Seen From Space 2012 Grammys: Taylor Swift Raw Video: Child Rescued After Kosovo Avalanche Exclusive Video - Whitney's Bodybag FUEL TV: Punk Payback Gym tips Whitney's Final Days - EXCLUSIVE Romney Tops Santorum in CPAC Straw Poll First glimpse of Blue Ivy Carter Angry Dad Shoots Teens Laptop Peek inside Barbie's closet Absolute Lin-sanity Madonna's Daughter Shaves Head 5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La. Test on Comforter in Powell Unit Shows Blood Hero Driver Saves Kids From Burning Bus
Parade
Magazine
Click HERE to read all your Parade favorites including Hollywood Wire, Celebrity interviews and photo galleries, Food recipes and cooking tips, Games and lots more.
  • -

    March 12, 2010

activity
Real Estate News