Dry conditions causing concerns for Indiana farmers
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Abnormally dry conditions in recent weeks are forcing farmers across Indiana to keep a watchful eye on their crops. Officials from Purdue Extension say the conditions for corn and soybean crops have struggled with the hot and dry weather that the state has seen, but add it is too early to tell if there will be significant yield losses.
However, Indiana State Climatologist Beth Hall said while it’s important to keep an eye on the state’s drought status, she is cautiously optimistic due to a forecast of rain across the state.
“The last two weeks have been dry, but these conditions would need to be sustained for another two weeks to indicate a flash drought,” Hall said. “We hope the weather patterns will shift soon so this is only a scare.”
Hall told the Associated Press that farmers and climate experts are focusing on when drought conditions are occurring and how that could impact crop yields. She said the timing is critical, particularly for agriculture.
“If they have too wet fields in the spring, that’s going to delay planting. But then as soon as it dries out in the field, it could be dry for weeks, if not months, and that’s not good,” she said. “So we need to really think about when is the timing of the drought critical, because we could have a dry month, and that may not be a problem. But if it’s at a critical time of vegetative development, this could be a disaster.”
Dan Quinn, an assistant professor of agronomy in the Purdue University College of Agriculture and a Purdue Extension corn specialist, said corn crop conditions across the state have deteriorated over the past few weeks, especially for corn that was planted in late May.
He said when the weather is as hot and dry as it has been early after corn is planted, the roots have a harder time establishing themselves in the ground, which could cause problems later in the season.
“If this does persist into pollination and the critical growth stages in the life cycle of the corn plant, we will have reason to be concerned,” said Quinn.
Quinn said some corn farmers can help combat the drought conditions if they’re lucky enough to have an irrigation system in place. But that won’t be the case for every farm.
“[For] a lot of farmers it’s just just paying attention to where the drought conditions are, what stage that crop is at that point in time to try and get an estimate of how much that crop is impacting it,” he said. “There isn’t really much they can do when the drought conditions really set in, especially if they don’t have irrigation.”
Shaun Casteel, assistant professor of agronomy in the College of Agriculture and a Purdue Extension soybean specialist, said soybean plans that were planted later in May are also struggling more compared to those planted earlier in the season.
Purdue Extension has compiled a series of resources and best management practices for drought and heat stress, which you can find by clicking here.