The calendar might say May but soil temperatures have struggled to get above 50-degrees across many areas of the corn belt to allow optimal corn planting. That hasn’t slowed down some farmers who decided to plant soybeans first and that’s the case in Indiana. USDA reporting 20% of the corn in the state has been seeded, but 18% of the soybeans have been planted which is well ahead of the 9% five-year average.
Near Lafayette, farmer Chuck Shelby says air and soil temperatures have been unusually cold for this time of year. “We’ve had multiple days of frost, temperatures as low as 26 in the morning. So, it’s a little bit concerning, but as long as we don’t get the big heavy rains, I think we’re going to continue to plant.”
However, they decided to plant beans first and are nearly done planting beans, while they’ve just gotten a good start on corn. And they’re not alone. “That seems to be the trend if you look at the planting progress its showing that too, so I think farmers have picked up on the idea. They think planting beans will handle the cold conditions better than corn will as far as germination goes,” Shelby says.
While there is risk of the beans emerging and getting hit by frost, he says he’s been planting beans early the last several years using a seed treatment for below ground insect protection. And when it works he gets a yield bump. “I think you know, if you look at studies on yield, earlier planted beans do well they can get a good start because they have more daylight and soybeans like daylight tends to you know, allow for a better yield over time,” according to Shelby.
While the cold has slowed planting in central and northern Indiana, the recent crop progress report actually shows both corn and soybean planting ahead of average for the state. Shelby says, “We farm some farm south of where I live here and a lot of farmers planted corn last week down in that heavy area in that area. So this area by area what guys are doing you go down in southern Indiana, Illinois there’s farmers that are completely done with everything. So, it’s just location and conditions of the soil.”
Shelby hopes to avoid a heavy rain with these cold soils but the fields at his home farm are dry which is a concern. “In our area. We are dry last year we did get some soil moisture but a lot of dust flying today Michelle went around the field so because it’s cool we’re not losing a lot of moisture in the air but it wouldn’t bother me to have a half inch or three quarters inch of rain.”
Beyond that Shelby is optimistic about the growing season from a yield standpoint, but profitability is still a question mark. While many inputs have dropped in price this spring many farmers missed out as they lined up fertilizer needs last fall before the price drop on nitrogen, P and K. Plus, last spring new crop grain prices were much higher allowing them to offset input costs and make a profit. The saving grace is strong crop insurance price guarantees will help.
