News

Planting season rain causes split pollination

A Southeastern Illinois grower expects a decent crop despite highly variable conditions on his farm.  Charles McDonald of Robinson, Illinois, endured a challenging planting season with 10 inches of late April rain forcing an unplanned break.

His early corn is pollinated, but he’s concerned about what effects heat and dry weather will have on what remains to be pollinated.

“We’ve had the little rains that keep you going,” McDonald told Brownfield Ag News during a Balance GT Experience Tour event near Indianapolis Wednesday, “but you have to continuously get those in order to have a decent crop, but at this time we’re looking at hopefully average to maybe slightly above average if everything can kind of hold together.”

McDonald takes in stride that some of his ground suffers from a dry spell, but at the same time borders the Wabash River, swollen from heavy rain upstream.

“I’m burning up on one side of the field and I’m getting flooded out on the other,” says McDonald, chuckling, “definitely some people are being a little more blessed with rain than I am.”

AUDIO: Charles McDonald (3 min. MP3)

Add Comment

Your email address will not be published.


 

Stay Up to Date

Subscribe for our newsletter today and receive relevant news straight to your inbox!