Indiana
“Whenever things get dry enough that they can get in the field, we’ll get the corn in,” said LaDonna Rader, a Fulton County farmer’s wife. “But it never gets dry. We don’t have a thing planted.”

Her words echoed those of a Kosciusko County farmer’s wife on May 10. “This is the day we always say we have to have the corn planted or we won’t have a crop,” she said. “We can’t even get in the fields.”

Their sentiments are echoed throughout northern Indiana, where the rainiest April since 1895 put the corn crop in jeopardy with losses estimated statewide at $960 million-$1.42 billion.

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) published an Indiana crop and weather report a week ago showing only 29 percent of the corn had been planted. By that date last year, the crop was 85 percent planted. Only 4 percent of the corn had emerged by May 16, and a scant 6 percent of soybeans were planted compared with 44 percent last year.

Overall, the report estimated corn planting is approximately 25 days later than last year and 15 days behind the five-year average. With days suitable for fieldwork limited, some producers are discouraged. Others, like Rader, remain optimistic.

“It’ll all work out,” she said. “It always does.

By Ann Allen
Indiana Correspondent

Ohio
Topsoil moisture in Ohio is at a surplus, according to the NASS weekly crop progress report, which isn’t much of a surprise to area farmers, given the fact precipitation averaged 1.34 inches for the week ending May 16, 0.5 inch above normal. The 10-day forecast shows warmer temperatures, but there is also more rain in the forecast.

Not much has been happening in the fields, according to Ron Becker, IPM Program Specialist with The Ohio State University extension in Wayne County. Only 7 percent of the state’s corn crop is in the ground, along with 3 percent of the soybean crop and 35 percent of oats. Only 2 percent of the hay in the state has been harvested.

The odds aren’t much better for fruit and vegetable growers, according to Becker. Vegetables in the ground include cabbage, onions, potatoes and some sweet corn.

In spite of the slow planting season, he cautions producers to be on the lookout for insects and disease problems. “Alfalfa weevil is very low at this point,” he said.  “It may be impacted by fungal diseases that can naturally control it, though we have not found any fuzzy gray ones just yet.
“Slugs have also been very sparse in the fields we’ve been scouting. Codling moth and oriental fruit moth flights have begun, which will mean spraying in a few weeks.”

Becker said Apple scab is just starting to show up, but growers have been spraying as a preventative for a few weeks.

“Orange rust in raspberries seems plentiful and infected plants need to be removed soon,” he added. “Fungicides should be applied to protect surrounding plants.

“High tunnels had tomatoes planted in them over a month ago. We are encouraging strawberry growers to apply a fungicide to blooming strawberries to prevent gray mold.”

There will probably be more fungicides needed when it comes to wheat and tomatoes, as well. “Our scouts have seen a few spider mites, but we expect this cool, wet weather will dampen their spirits most as much as ours,” said Becker.

By Susan Mykrantz
Ohio Correspondent

Illinois
Despite an average of 4.7 days suitable for fieldwork, the week of May 10-16 was anything but productive for many Illinois farmers, especially those located in the southern part of the state.

However, corn planting increased to 69 percent, over the previous week’s 34 percent, as higher temperatures and drier weather upstate (for the majority of the week) allowed farmers to enter their fields en force, according to the NASS Illinois field office’s crop report for May 16. During the same period, soybeans planted increased from 2 to 16 percent across the state, the report revealed.
In far southern Illinois, Shawneetown farmer Jeff Scates reported that backwater from recent flooding continues to lay claim to the lower-lying areas of crop fields owned by his family and others in the region.

“The areas that have been flooded for a while are still wet,” he said. Scates was preparing to replant much of his corn crop last Friday morning. “We went from 30 percent planted to under 10 percent with the flooding. We had planted just a few acres of soybeans, but the water got that.”

Further north, Livingston County farmer Mike Haag was preparing to finish his corn planting at virtually the same hour Scates was digging in to begin replanting. Perhaps one-third of Haag’s soybean crop has been planted, as well.

Haag considers himself fortunate. “It’s very spotty,” he said. “Not far south from here many are still trying to get in for the first time.”

Meanwhile, University of Illinois extension agronomist Mike Gray issued an alert to growers, that late planting can leave corn and soybeans more susceptible to insect pests such as Western corn rootworms, black cutworms, European corn borers, bean leaf beetles, aphids, grubs and other plant-munching bugs.
“Corn may reach the pollination period at a later date in July this season, typically a period of summer more prone to hot and dry conditions,” Gray said. “These insects may reach economic densities on corn plants.”

By Tim Alexander
Illinois Correspondent