I-80 Planting Tour: Indiana Farmers See Earliest Start Ever to Soybean Planting Season

The 2021 planting season saw a jumpstart last week. USDA’s second Crop Progress Report of the year showed planting is progressing across the country, with 2% of Indiana’s corn crop in the ground. That’s a point ahead of the five-year average.

Despite it being too early for USDA to start showing soybean planting progress, it’s soybeans that farmers  in northwest Indiana are focused on right now.

One field down. More to go. Earliest I've ever put beans in the ground. We'll see what happens. #plant21 #LetsGo https://t.co/5FTnbw3YX0 — Brian Scott ? (@thefarmerslife) April 8, 2021

“It’s April 7, 2021, and I’m planting soybeans. This is the earliest I’ve ever done that,” Brian Scott said on a YouTube video posted last week.

Scott farms near Delphi, Ind. He says planters are starting to roll in northwest Indiana.

“We planted one field last Wednesday, April 7th,” says Scott.

The Scotts planted one field before the rains hit this past weekend, but they have hope more fields will get worked this week.

“I would say in maybe in two days, we'll be back in the field, assuming the sun pops out.”

It was an early start to the 2021 planting season, and even with cooler temperatures in the forecast this week, Scott thinks the soybeans are safe. 

“They're out in a cover crop that's not dead yet, either,” adds Scott. “So, they've hopefully got some shielding from the cold weather out there with that.”

Just down the road in Reynolds, Ind., a similar story is playing out on Drew Fleck’s farm.

“We just got started planting last Tuesday,” says Fleck. “We had a full day Tuesday and a full day Wednesday, and we got 550 acres of soybeans in the ground.”

The 25-year-old farmer says the early start is welcomed this year.

“This is early,” says Fleck. “It's normally middle or end of April before we start. And to be out there in the first week of April was a little bit different, but we're excited about it. And we're excited to get some soybeans in early.”

Got the bean planter out for a few test strips today... hopefully both planters are playing in the dirt tomorrow for the start of #Plant21 ?? pic.twitter.com/c88bwbrIVG — Drake Fleck (@Dr_Fleck) April 6, 2021

Fleck says putting the planter in these soils early is proving to pay.

“We've seen in the last few years that corn [planting date] isn’t that important,” he says. “You can get it planted in May, and even late May, and still see those high yields. So, we like to go in and prioritize the soybeans early.”

The sentiment is shared among Indiana farmers who are pushing planting dates.

“We've been happy with early beans so far,” says Scott.

Scott says trials the past few years have shown planting dates matter.

“I think everybody almost is trying early beans the last few years,” says Scott. “We did it in 2018 and had the best beans we've ever grown. We didn't get to do it in 2019 because it was really wet. We planted the beans in June that year. And then we planted beans first again last year in late April.”

From a boost in yield, to better canopy to drown out weeds, Scott says early planted soybeans work on his farm. The high hopes for bean yields are sprouting despite the fact most of the area’s moisture didn’t arrive until March this year.

“In 2012, when we had the big drought, I think we started planting March 28,” adds Scott. “ So that was very early. And so far, we've already got a lot more rain than we had for all of the 2012 growing season.”

Fleck and Scott’s Indiana soils saw another soaker this past weekend.

“We are being hung out by weather right now; it's just a little too wet,” says Fleck. “If you walk out in the field, you get mud sticking to your boots.”

As planting was put on pause for a few days, it’s still an earlier start to the season than last year, and farmers hope that the planting process gets a restart yet this week.

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