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A disappointing start to harvest

A southwest Indiana farmer says his corn harvest is starting off rather disappointing.

Ben Kron says yields have been average at best.  “Anything from 120 to 240 bushel corn,” he says.  “We’re really seeing a lot of stalk quality issues.  We had some wind the other day and we have a lot of tops of stalks blown down.  I’m kind of worried if we have a big storm we’ll have a lot of corn laying down flat.”

He tells Brownfield this year’s wet weather has not only caused yield reductions, but has increased disease pressure.  “Guys who did do fungicide this year say that is definitely paying off for them,” he says.   “There are several fields that died off early from disease.  We’ve definitely been fighting off disease pretty hard this year.”

Kron says soybeans are just starting to turn in his area – and harvest is still a few weeks away.

Ben Kron, Indiana farmer