Persistent wet weather has left many Indiana farmers well behind in their crucial spring task of planting corn and soybeans.
The delays caused by soggy fields means some farmers are now weighing their options, including whether to even plant corn, which has a longer growing season than soybeans.
The federal government’s weekly crop report for Indiana shows that just 22 percent of Indiana’s corn acreage was planted by May 26. That’s far behind the five-year average of 85 percent of Indiana’s corn crop planted by that date.
And only 11 percent of Indiana’s soybeans are in the ground, putting that crop well behind the five-year average of 63 percent.
Kent Chism farms in north-central Indiana’s Howard County. He tells the Kokomo Tribune this is the latest planting he’s ever seen.
