From The Rows | Aug. 22, 2023 — Mark Bernard (East)
Today’s split route in Indiana went north from Noblesville about 10 miles, jogged west south of Kokomo, north on 29 towards Logansport, NW towards Winamac, then due west to I- 65 where the other half of our split route commenced sampling into IL. We also had the Farm Journal broadcast group with us shooting footage for presentations on Ag Day and other programming. The counties we sampled in IN included Tipton, Howard, Carroll, Cass, Pulaski, and Jasper with the fields coming from USDA crop reporting districts 1, 2 and 5. We saw lots of orange signs, making for lots of rerouting.
The corn crop was solid but really didn’t have that “wow factor”. The first sample we pulled in Tipton Co. at 212 bu./acre had me thinking we’d see some better corn today on our route in IN than we saw on yesterday’s route in OH. Yields bounced around as we travelled north and struggled to maintain consistency. We had a high yield for the day of 231 in Carroll Co. and a low on our last sample in Jasper Co. of 157 bu./acre. Leaf disease and insect pressure was lacking today. Soil moisture was abundant but after looking at the map, seeing the amount of center pivots and realizing we’d sampled all dryland through those areas it shouldn’t surprise me. Our route average today was 192 bu./acre.
Had an interesting visit this morning with farmer Jeff Carter in Carroll Co. about his operation. It gave us some great insight into what we found in his fields. It explained the mowed off cover crop in the soybeans. I’d wondered too what was going on when my corn sample ear count was 138. That’s the equivalent of 40,020 plants per acre. Totally understandable when the field was slated for silage. Was still tremendous corn any way you slice it.
Much of the corn sampled today was well dented with our first sample already exhibiting a milk line about ¼ down from the top of the kernel. While we’ll need a frost-free September to get some of the fields on our route to finish, much of it should be in good shape well before that. Moderate temps and cool nights, plus some additional rainfall will help this corn crop finish with close to the potential we saw today. More heat like what’s coming their way this week and not so much.
The soybeans samples on our route today were more variable than our yesterday’s OH sampling with a high of 1675 pods in the 3’x3’ square coming from Howard Co. and a low of 442 in Jasper Co. The average on our route today was a very low 900, well off the pace from last year and the three-year average. Insect and disease pressure was low with a few Japanese beetles feeding here and there. However, they weren’t the cause of the low pod counts today. Given the areas we sampled, it shouldn’t come as a surprise, especially the lighter textured soils where some of the lowest pod counts pulled our average way down.
For the second year in a row, several IN corn fields we sampled were loaded with foxtail and waterhemp. With the lack of early season rain, it’s understandable when some of the pre-chemistry didn’t work well. Especially in years where moisture has become a precious commodity, it’s crucial to get a handle on weed control. Particularly with waterhemp, once the ground is seeded down, it can take several years to get the field back into shape again.
On to get a handle on the IL crop Wednesday and then to IA City and the Hyatt Regency. Hopefully the orange signs will leave us alone tomorrow.
