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Western Indiana farmer nearly done with soybean planting

While many Midwesterner farmers are just beginning the planting season, a western Indiana farmer will likely finish soybean planting this weekend.

Jason Brier, who raises corn and soybeans on around 6,000 acres on the Indiana/Illinois line in Warren County, tells Brownfield…

“I planted some old beans, 40 acres, on February 27^th.”  He says, “They’re out of the ground.  March 2^nd, I planted 90 acres of new seed, was on some sandy soils, and then we went to Florida on spring break for two weeks and then we come back. I kind of pulled the trigger and just laid the hammer down.”

He says nearly a decade of early planting experience has made him a believer…

“When we started planting those early April beans compared to May, we were gaining 20–25-bushel of beans an acre.”  He says, “So, we never looked back and I’m usually harvesting beans by the end of August, definitely 1st of September, and we’re usually done middle of October.”

Brier says there is still the threat of frost damaging the newly emerged soybeans in mid-April…

“This year they sprouted and came out of the ground, still third week of March they were poking through.”  He says, “I’m thinking, ‘Oh shoot! These may come up too soon.  I might get frostbit,’ but last Saturday we had a pretty good frost, and they went through it.  Beans are pretty hardy.”

But he says his farm’s geography and advancements in seed treatments help ease concerns…

“I will seed treat every bean that I have, and we have since that’s been available.”  He says, “You definitely want to plant in dry soils.  Don’t go out there and mud it in. I’ve got a lot of rolling soils, and I don’t have ponds or wet spots, so that’s kind of a plus.”

Brier also has just over 700 acres of corn yet to plant, and he expects the earliest to emerge this weekend.

AUDIO: Jason Brier – Western Indiana farmer