Today marks the approximate deadline for replanting soybeans, according to a Purdue University expert, though many parts of Huntington County are still too wet for recouping from a record-breaking June.
According to a release from Purdue University farmers in the Midwest are facing "crunch time" when it comes to replanting their soybean crop that was washed out from flooding this late spring.
"If the fall freeze is typically Oct. 10, then soybeans need to be replanted and emerged by July 10 to have a chance at producing harvestable grain this fall," Purdue University Agronomy Professor Shaun Casteel said in the release. He went on to say that although time is short fields need to dry out before farmers take out their equipment to replant. Heavy machinery could leave ruts in the soil making next season harder to start.
Huntington County Purdue Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator Ed Farris said that the approximate first frost for Huntington County is between Oct. 6-15. He said that although some farmers are looking to replant crops lost to flooding others were not able to.
"Some farmers didn't have all their acres intended for soybeans planted that well," Farris said. He added farmers may have had soybeans and corn planted but the crops did not have time to be established enough to survive the flooding.
According to data from the National Weather Service June 2015 was the wettest month Huntington has seen since 1979, as far as the NWS records go back. The total rainfall of about 13.5 inches was more than 9 inches higher than the June average.
Farris said that in some cases for farmers with crop insurance would have to make sure to replant in a timely fashion depending on what policy they took out back in March.
"Some farmers are taking more of a risk by replanting in that regard," he said.
Farris had suggestions that mirrored some of what Casteel said in the Purdue release, specifically about picking a replanting bean with a shorter maturation period in order to have the harvest in time.
"In some cases people are considering using soybeans even if they can't harvest it, they do help the ground," Farris added, mentioning that some farmers will plant the beans as a cover crop.
Huntington County farmer John Hacker plans to do just that with specific seeds that he will either have to plant or destroy this season. He said the nutrients, specifically nitrogen, would help for next season even if the crop turns out too poor to harvest.
"That's something that we would like to do but we haven't got the chance," Hacker said in regard to replanting. He said that some parts of the county south of Majenica have been able to see some replanting but there are still areas in Huntington not dry enough
Aaron Hacker, an Elite Ag Solutions precision ag specialist, said that for this season soybeans haven't necessarily been hit harder than other crops though the drowned out areas may be more visible. He said that compared to corn crops the soybeans that survived the flooding can have more even growth than corn.
Aaron Hacker said that Huntington County was right in the line of counties across northern Indiana from about Miami to Adams County hit especially hard by rain this season.
"Everything has been hit hard when it comes right down to it," Aaron Hacker said. "You don't have to go too far south or too far north for the crops to look significantly better."