Planting coming along slowly, but surely in the Hoosier state

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Farmers made good progress planting crops the week of May 10, before rain came again, said Greg Preston, director of Indiana’s U.S. Department of Agriculture National Ag Statistics Office.

Indiana jumped from 11 percent of the intended corn planted to 24 percent, leaving farmers about 16 days behind in planting progress, Preston said.

On the soybean side, Indiana has 6 percent of the intended soybean crop planted, compared to 22 percent last year at this time and 49 percent for the five-year average. Indiana growers are about 20 days behind the five-year average for getting the soybean crop planted, Preston said.

“In our area and most of the Eastern Corn Belt, corn planting remains behind but that’s not true across the whole United States,” Preston said. “It seems that in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and in the Dakotas, conditions have been more favorable for spring planting.”

The USDA weekly crop report shows that neighboring states are in the same boat as Indiana, Preston said.

In Illinois, only 20 percent of the corn crop is planted, compared to 92 percent for the five-year average, while only 1 percent of the soybean crop is planted compared to the typical 50 percent. Ohio normally has 82 percent of its corn planted at this time, but has completed just 39 percent. Meanwhile, Ohio farmers have only been able to plant 17 percent of the soybean crop, far behind the five-year average of 57 percent.

Since the weekly report started in April, there has not been more than two days a week suitable for field work in Indiana, Preston pointed out.

“It has been a tough go, and farmers should be commended for just getting 24 percent of the corn crop in the ground,” Preston said.

“I should also mention that in 1999, we planted 47 percent of the corn crop in Indiana in one week,” Preston said. “Today we have much larger equipment and better technology. With the increased capacity, we should be able to plant quite a bit of corn in a week if we get a good week of clear weather.”

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