Farmers across north central Indiana are getting a closer look at what this year’s extreme weather may mean for the 2026 harvest.
“In our area where we’re at, we ended up getting 10 and a half inches of rain. We were praying for some rain, but not quite that much. But you get what you get. With the heat coming into (the season) you could start seeing some stress on hills and on some of your higher ground. And then once we got all the rain, we’re starting to see a lot of stress on especially the beans and the lower ground. So you got a lot of variations in your bean fields to where you still got a lot of green, but yet your low ground is starting to die out and having some pod fill issues in low ground because of the moisture.” That’s according to Madison County Farmer, Wendell Heath.
But in spite of periods of heavy rain, flooding and extreme heat in recent weeks, Heath says crop conditions remain relatively solid.
He says, “Corn on good ground that drains well I think is going to be very well. Same with beans. If you’ve got some mediocre ground, some rolling ground, I think you’re going to see very high swings from the flat ground that drains to the low ground that doesn’t. There’s going to be a lot of variance in it.”
Farmers in north central Indiana are now watching kernel development, soybean pod fill and field conditions closely as harvest gets closer, which Heath says could start in the next week or two for him.
“There are some beans that will probably be starting to be cut here, and I’m saying probably a week or two, which is which is pretty on par. You know, some guys get some early beans out just to get them out and get moving, and same with some corn, but they just majority of it. I think we’re pretty well on par. Maybe just a week or two earlier. But nothing extreme. This hot weather is helping the corn that’s changing. Its drying down. It’s going to dry down quickly if we keep this hot weather going. Like they say that we are.” He concluded.
For growers across north central Indiana, the focus now turns to getting the crop across the finish line and into the bin.
