Harvest is moving along in most places across the state, but progress remains uneven as field conditions vary widely from north to south.
In Northwest Indiana’s LaPorte County, Indiana Soybean Alliance Chair Denise Scarborough reports catching a brief window to push through early field work before cloud cover and rain returned.
“We managed to get wheat planted last weekend, and we had two days of cutting beans this week, and then it started to rain again and be cloudy and overcast,” Scarborough says. “Our soybean yields are average to a little bit sub-average. We have not gotten any commercial corn harvested, but we have gotten quite a bit of seed corn harvested, and a lot of potatoes and tomatoes being taken out in our area. So we are just praying for some warmer weather and some dry weather to be able to really get into the fields to get some crops harvested.”
Across West Central Indiana, Ryan Rippy sees harvest activity accelerate dramatically on his acres in Fountain, Montgomery, and Tippecanoe counties.
“We went from 10% done when I talked to you last week on beans to now we’re around 70% done,” Rippy says. “A lot of the processors and elevators have had really long lines due to so much harvest activity going on. Personally, we deal with ADM Frankfort a lot, and there’s been a lot of issues up there, so we’ve had to pivot and change some plans. I would estimate in the area here we’re getting close to 50% done with beans as a whole. There’s still a lot of corn to go. There were a few neighbors working on corn, but for the most part, everybody was focusing on beans this week.”
Down in Dubois County near Ferdinand, National Corn Growers Association Corn Board member J.R. Roesner reports that cooperative weather has kept combines rolling smoothly, save for a brief shower on Friday.
“Yields continue to be strong,” Roesner says. “We’re on the downhill side of harvest, have just a little bit of beans left to cut and about half the corn. Overall, everyone in this area is making good progress, and we should be looking to finish harvest in the next week or two.”
Eastward at Cox Farms Inc. in Delaware County, Jenna Scott reports that open weather allowed area farmers to make major strides over the past week.
“A lot of bean fields being cut, just progress in general being made, taking advantage of our great conditions,” Scott says. “We’ve seen no damage yet so far to what we’ve been harvesting, as far as damage from excess moisture and the rains we had earlier in the season. But we’ll see as things continue. So far, things look good, though.”
However, in Allen County, Northeast Indiana continues to experience a much slower start due to saturated ground from late-summer rains. Roger Hadley of Woodburn notes that crops are maturing, but the area is still waiting on field readiness.
“We have seen beans mature quite a bit,” Hadley says. “Corn is also dropping some ears and starting to show signs of maturity. Still have to drive a long ways to hunt and find any beans that are fit for harvest. Weather was much better on the drying side this week. There’s maybe again, I’m going to say still not over 1% on our part of the county. I know the northwest side of the county has got a few more guys that’s able to start, and clear at the southeastern corner a few guys have been able to start. But overall, most of our beans, most people I talk to, are between 10 and 12 days away, depending on the weather.”
Follow weekly crop progress and farmer updates from across the state on Hoosier Ag Today.
