May 6, 2004

 

 

Record Corn Planting Pace Could Lead To Indiana Bumper Corn Crop
 

Ideal planting conditions, this month's return of rain and high commodity prices, all contribute to bright prospects for Indiana farmers this year.

 

While growers hesitate to make predictions so early in the season, they take Indiana's record pace for corn planting this spring as the most clear-cut sign of good things to come.

 

Dave Schulenburg, a 64-year-old northeastern Indiana farmer who has grown corn for more than three decades, has finished planting all 300 acres of his corn -- the earliest he has ever completed the task.

 

Schulenburg can now focus on planting his faster-maturing soybean crop, thanks to the mere two-tenths of an inch of rainfall his Whitley County farm received during an unusually dry April. The dry soil created ideal conditions for field work, in contrast with soggy springs that caused planting delays across the state for the past couple of years.

 

Prolonged dry weather would not be good news either, as many Indiana farmers were happy to see this spring's dry spell interrupted by heavy rainfall last weekend. While soil retained plenty of moisture from winter snowfall, the 1.5 inches of rain Schulenburg's farm west of Fort Wayne received over the weekend was welcome.

 

"I was getting concerned," Schulenburg said today. "If I get some rain in July and August, I'll probably have one of my better years."

 

Rainfall has been heavier in southern Indiana than to the north. Thus dry soil is still a concern in the state's northern third, said Bob Nielsen, a corn specialist with Purdue University.

 

Last weekend's rain totaled around 4 inches in some parts of southern Indiana. That was too much of a good thing for a few farmers who had to reseed corn in low-lying area with standing water, said Dennis Whitsitt, a Dubois County farmer and president of the Indiana Corn Growers Association.

 

Corn planting in Indiana was three days ahead of the record pace set in 2001 and two weeks ahead of the average pace, the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday. Soybeans, which are planted later than corn, were five days ahead of average.

 

About 70 percent of Indiana's corn acreage has been planted, compared with an average 33 percent the past five years. About 20 percent of Indiana's soybean crop is in the ground, compared with an average 7 percent.

 

"Early planting always sets the stage for good crops, because it allows the crop to take advantage of more of the growing season," Nielsen said. "It's a welcome change for a lot of these guys who had to deal with late planting due to the heavy rains the past couple of springs.

 

"We can be pretty optimistic about the crops, but we've still got the lion's share of the season left to go."

 

Prices are high for both of Indiana's top two cash crops, especially beans. Poor rainfall and attacks by sap-sucking aphids last year have driven soybean inventories down to their lowest level in more than three decades.

 

Prices for new-crop corn for fall delivery are running around $3.10 a bushel, 50 cents higher than a year ago. Beans for fall delivery are about $7.40 a bushel, up $3.10 from a year ago.