As hot, dry weather returns to Indiana over the next several days, that might be a good thing for Indiana’s corn and soybeans leading into harvest.

“I think it’s going to be a blessing in disguise,” says Eric Wornhoff, Field Sales Representative with Specialty Hybrids. He is based out of Lebanon in Boone County. With dry conditions and highs near 90 degrees over the next several days, Wornhoff says that’s exactly what Indiana’s crops need.

“We need to get this crop going. There’s a lot of corn out there that’s right there at the half milk line or a little less than the half milk line that really needs those extra heat units to push it through to finish. Everybody loves to start harvesting in shorts and tee shirts and really don’t want Carhartts and hoodies outside to get going here in September,” says Wornhoff.

How are soybeans looking across west-central Indiana?

“Beans are a little slower than normal,” according to Wornhoff. “I believe that were still filling pods. We’re still making good quality beans. Disease pressure and bug pressure has been kind of minimal on soybeans, so a little heat and sunshine to get this crop finished out is going to help us get rolling and get a good start and hopefully we’ve got a good six-to-eight weeks here to get wheels under this crop and more importantly get it to market cash in on these good prices we have right now.”

Even though the USDA is forecasting a record yield for Indiana’s soybeans, Wornhoff says that likely won’t be the case.

“If you really go out and look at soybeans right now and you pulled the canopy back, the lower third of the plant has got a lot of pods missing on the first six-to-eight inches from the ground up,” according to Wornhoff. “I don’t see a real over-the-top record. There’s going to be some great bean yields out there. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a lot of 70-bushels-per-acre yields, but the stress we had early isn’t all fixed by the rains we had in August and early September.”

Eric adds that this year’s corn yield will be impacted by the heat and drought stress from earlier this summer.

“There’s still going to be some good corn out there. There’s going to be some great corn in some areas.  There is also going to be some farms and fields that should have a 225 or 240 bushel per acre average that are going to be far below 200 bushels per acre just because of the lack of rain and that the extended tip back that we see a lot of areas to the extreme heat and dry spell we had this summer,” says Wornhoff.

Click BELOW to hear C.J. Miller’s radio news report on the return of hot, dry weather and how it may ultimately benefit Indiana’s corn and soybean crops before harvest.

https://hoosieragtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CJ-WRAP-HAT-SPECIALTY-HYBRIDS-091422.mp3

Click BELOW to hear the FULL podcast interview with Eric Wornhoff with Specialty Hybrids as he provides analysis of corn and soybean crops across west-central Indiana heading into harvest.

https://hoosieragtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ERIC-WORNHOFF-RAW-AUDIO-091322-2.mp3

At Specialty Hybrids, it’s your field, our Specialty. Find your local field sales representative and dealer online at www.specialtyhybrids.com.

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