Indiana Fieldwork is at a standstill, as severe April weather brought several tornadoes and record levels of rainfall to much of Indiana, especially in the central and southern areas of the state. This made it the fourth wettest April on record, and showers are expected through this week.
According to the Indiana field office of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), planting of corn is now approximately 20 days behind last year’s record-setting pace and 17 days behind the five-year average. Only one-half day was suitable for fieldwork, and only 2 percent of the state’s corn has been planted as of April 24, compared to 50 percent last year and 15 percent for the five-year average.
Farmers still basking in the glow of last year’s planting need only look at the historical numbers to get a better perspective.
“Only four years since 1951 were we able to get out of single-digit percentages in planting by April 20,” said Greg Matli, Indiana deputy director for NASS.
Those were 1976 with 11 percent; 2004 with 22 percent; 2005 with 25 percent; and 2010 with 28 percent. The record low was in 1961, when no corn had been planted as of April 30.
Thirty-seven percent of the winter wheat acreage is jointed, compared with 50 percent last year and 48 percent for the five-year average. Winter wheat condition is rated 61 percent good to excellent, compared with 71 percent last year at this time.
By Nancy Voris
Indiana Correspondent
Illinois
Cool, moist conditions and heavy rains put the brakes on fieldwork across the state the week of April 18-24, the NASS Illinois Weather & Crops report of April 25 reflects. An average of 2.97 inches of rain fell across the state during this period, 2.02 inches above the norm.
Pooling water and flooded fields were the result. In addition, tornadoes touched down in some areas “damaging farmland, irrigation units, grain bins and other buildings,” according to the report.
During the period, planted corn increased by a mere 1 percent, to 10 percent planted statewide, which is well below the five-year average of 27 percent and astoundingly behind the 2010 percentage of 67 percent, the report stated. Only 1 percent of corn has emerged, the report states.
“Very little actual planting is being done in southern LaSalle County,” reported central Illinois corn and soybean grower Ricky Bane of Dana. “Over seven inches of rain (fell) from April 14 to April 28. A fair amount of tillage was done, as was most nitrogen. On a good note, the winter wheat is growing fast and looking good.
“Some corn-on-corn acres are being switched back to soybeans due to the rain. All of my seed corn is still in the bag, and I am pretty happy about it,” he said.
Forty-five miles west and across the Illinois River, Peoria County farmer Verne “Bun” Schaffner said last Friday the 2011 planting season can’t be compared to the previous year’s. “Last year we were planted by April 11,” he said of his corn crop. “We’re still not worried. As long as we can get started in a week or 10 days, we’ll be alright.”
Though Schaffner said he has seen a few planted cornfields in his area, none of the fields he farms near Mossville and Chillicothe have been planted. As of Saturday, purple henbit flowers covered one of Schaffner’s fields near Mossville, in Medina Township.
By Tim Alexander
Illinois Correspondent
Ohio Ohio has had a couple of weeks of unsettled weather. That has brought rounds of showers and thunderstorms to the area, one after another with just a day or so of reprieve in between, said Mike Kurz, meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS).
“Over the last two weeks the northern part of Ohio has seen about two to three inches on average over the past two weeks, while the southern part has seen anywhere from four to six inches,” Kurz said.
“I haven’t heard a whisper of folks getting seed into the ground here,” said Jim Petrosino, The Ohio State University agricultural educator in Darke County. “We can actually go into early May in getting things planted without seeing too much of an impact on yield.”
If growers get rushed and try to get into the field too soon, that can impact the crop much more than getting in a little late, Petrosino said. “Going in to wet soil can cause compaction, the equipment doesn’t always work right when it is too wet, the seed rows might not close up as well. Basically, you lose stand and from that you lose yield.”
Field activities in Ohio were limited because of the wet conditions. Planting has stopped until fields dry up, according to the NASS report for April 24. As of that date only 1 percent of Ohio corn was planted. That’s 38 percent behind last year and 13 percent behind the five-year average.
Winter wheat was 28 percent jointed, 27 percent behind last year and 10 percent behind the five-year average. Oats emerged were 4 percent, 20 percent behind last year and 13 percent behind the five-year average.
By Celeste Baumgartner
Ohio Correspondent |
