INDIANAPOLIS – A soggy April and wet start to May is keeping many Hoosier farmers from getting corn and soybeans in the ground on time.
This is a serious issue for Indiana’s corn growers, most of whom need to plant between April 20 and May 10 to maximize crop yield, according to The Tribune-Star newspaper in Terre Haute.
Corn planted later in May typically produces fewer bushels than corn planted during prime planting season, according to the Tribune-Star. Fewer bushels means a smaller crop yield and a smaller profit for farmers. It can sometimes mean higher prices at the grocery store.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that just 3-percent of the state’s corn crops were in the ground by May 5, compared to nearly 40-percent by the same time last year.
At the same time, just 1 percent of the state’s soybeans have been planted, compared to 20{fa7adc80df2e023940cc66418ee6bf3ea4951b478396a103014e7d5f7d7da9d3} in 2018, reports the Tribune-Star. Soybeans, however, can be planted until early June.
Indiana farmers aren’t the only ones behind schedule. The National Weather Service says corn planting in much of the Midwest — including Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, and Minnesota — is running behind because of cold, wet weather.
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty.)
