Indiana corn heading toward bumper crop

For the second year in a row, the corn harvest is expected to yield a bumper crop. But heavy rains, drought conditions, disease or an early frost could change the outlook as the second half of the growing season progresses. A cool spring delayed planting for some farmers, but since, weather conditions have been close to ideal.

“The corn crop in Indiana looks good at this point in time … the prospects for good yields this year are promising,” Nielsen wrote two weeks ago during his online Chat ’n’ Chew Cafe.

Three-fourths of the state’s corn crop was in good or excellent condition then, comparable to a year ago. And it has stayed there.

He said that at the end of the 2013 season, Indiana had produced a record crop that exceeded 1 billion bushels of corn. The previous year, though, was a disaster, when an extensive drought cut corn production to just 597 million bushels.

Lindy Miller, Purdue University’s extension educator based in Sullivan County, and formerly in Greene County, said southwestern Indiana’s corn crop is right in line with Nielsen’s assessment.