Indiana fall harvest exceeds expectation

The past two weeks have offered mostly clear skies, minimal wind and not much rain in southwestern Indiana — crisp fall days with combine harvesters churning through fields collecting mature soybeans and ears of corn. Some farmers who completed their harvest have moved on to preparing the soil for next year’s batch of crops by tilling in tons of pulverized limestone to neutralize the area’s acidic soil.

Despite a rainy and saturated spring, as often happens in farming, Mother Nature evened things out with dry weather just when farmers need it to reap what seed plants months ago have produced.

“Yields are very good in the southern third of Indiana,” Hurt said, citing an Oct. 9 estimate that had both corn and soybeans above the expected yields. “We would have expected a normal weather year to provide yields of about 145 bushels in south-central Indiana, and the USDA estimate this year is 152 bushels.”

As of Oct. 13, 62 percent of the state’s soybeans had been harvested, far ahead of the 45 percent average over the past five years. Over the next week or two, corn harvesting will shift into high gear. On Oct. 13, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported 45 percent of the state’s corn was harvested, close to the five-year average. And since dry weather reduces the moisture content, farmers will save the cost of using industrial driers and fans.