Timing has been the key to yields in Indiana corn and soybean fields this year, going all the way back to spring planting. Early planted crops that didn?t then get washed out by heavy rains have yielded the best in 2017, and last week HAT visited fields just a couple miles north of Columbus where 250-300 bushel corn is coming off the fields.
As Matt Hutcheson of Seed Consultants explains in the newest HAT video, those fields also benefitted from the right timing of fungicide applications.
?When we look back at the growing season in this area, we did see some disease in both corn and soybeans,? he said. ?There was some common rust, southern rust, and also some gray leaf spot. We feel that the farmers in this area who saw those average or above average yields that we?re hearing about did a good job of spraying when the diseases showed up. Anyone who didn?t spray or waited a little too long to spray saw a little bit of a yield hit. When we look at soybeans we did see some frog eye. Not heavy pressure, and possibly not enough to affect yields.?
But it appears those who scouted and sprayed did see a yield advantage.
Now it is harvest crunch time as the calendar is ready to flip to November. Hutcheson says timing is now critical for some corn that may not stand much longer.
?There?s been a lot of discussion this year with the possibility of leaving corn in the field as long as possible to let it dry down. At this point in the year it?s really important to get out there and start harvesting that corn,? Hutcheson said. ?There?s been a lot of progress made in terms of drying down in the field, but at this point it?s only going to be possible problems coming up if the corn stays in the field for much longer than necessary. You can start to see stalk quality issues, corn going down, and you can start to see grain quality issues.?
So, when the weather and field conditions allow, Hutcheson recommends getting the crop out. See more in the HAT video at our YouTube channel.
The post Very Good Yields Reported in Columbus, Indiana Area appeared first on Hoosier Ag Today.
