VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – A couple of weeks ago, many farms in the Valley looked bare.
Today, you’ll find fields that look a lot different and that’s due to planting numbers which have increased, but are still below average.
“At this point 100 percent of corn was planted last year and right now as far what’s been planted, we’re sitting at 84 percent,” said Dana Gadeken, agricultural educator with Purdue Extension-Vigo County.
In addition to corn, according to the USDA, 64 percent of soybeans have now been planted, compared to 98 percent at this time last year.
Terry Hayhurst, the manager of Hayhurst Farms in Vigo County, says in the past week he was able to make significant progress himself.
“We’ve had two pretty good weeks of being able to run. Finished up corn the first week, got most of the beans done. We’ve got about a little under 200 acres of beans left to plant,” Hayhurst said.
Although the planting process is moving forward, Hayhurst is now shifting his focus to make sure these crops grow. With rain in the future forecast he says weather can still impact the fields.
“All this water just slows the growth rates, it causes the plants to not be as healthy,” Hayhurst said.
If wet weather does continue to hit the Valley, Gadeken says farmers will have to make a decision about their financial future.
“Should I invest and see if my plants, corn or beans, will make it out of all this wet weather? Or should I just let it be and try to collect crop insurance?”, Gadeken said.
Hayhurst says he does expect less bushels to be produced due to the weather, but he is hopeful that the price of his crops will help offset a drop in production.
