Continuous Rain Pressures Farmers to Make Decisions
Published: Friday, May 31, 2019
It's decision-making time for many Indiana farmers with planting being so late this season from rain that almost seems to never quit.
The real struggle is whether filing a crop insurance claim will be more profitable than going ahead with planting once the soggy soil begins drying out.
During a May 23 webinar, Purdue University agronomist Bob Nielsen said strong yields can still be achieved even with crops planted this late under-favorable growing conditions.
Nielsen said recommending what farmers should do right now is difficult, though, from Mother Nature being unpredictable.
"It's really challenging,'' he said.
Among the choices outlined during the webinar for corn growers are not planting before June 5 to achieve full coverage, which his 85 percent of the projected value of the fall crop.
Corn planted from June 6 to June 30 would be eligible for reduced coverage.
The coverage amount drops by 1 percent each day for corn after June 5.
Full coverage for soybeans is applied to a crop not planted before June 20.
Soybeans planted from June 21 to July 15 qualify for reduced coverage.
Corn growers can also choose to plant soybeans instead because of soybeans not having to be planted so early.
Jim Mintert, a Purdue University agricultural economist, said corn growers contemplating switching crops have to decide whether a crop insurance payment for corn would be more or less than what they would receive from a soybean yield.
Purdue agronomists projected soybeans in the ground July 1 would have to receive greater than $243 per bushel to make planting more profitable than collecting full insurance coverage on corn.
"That's really the crux of the decision-making process,'' he said.
According to USDA, the amount of corn planted nationwide on May 20 was at the slowest pace on record at 49 percent.
Just 14 percent of the corn in Indiana was in the ground.
The five-year average for Hoosier corn at this time is 73 percent, according to USDA.
Six percent of Indiana soybeans were planted.
Percentages vary, of course, depending on location.
Steve Mrozinski, manager at the Farm Bureau Co-op at Rolling Prairie, estimated about 40 percent of the corn and soybeans in that area were in the soil.
Much of the farmland there is on higher ground.
There's also a lot of good drainage from sand in the soil.
Mrozinski said farmers there are positioned well to finish planting, with just three to four consecutive days of dry weather.
''I've been here 38 years and it's one of the wettest ones,'' he said.
Matt Schafer, a corn and soybean grower in LaCrosse, said about 40 percent of his corn and 30 percent of his soybeans were in the ground as of last Wednesday.
It's been so wet and late in the season, though, some farmers are planting in soil that's probably a bit too damp between rains to achieve the best results, he said.
Schafer also said he and a few other growers, in their bid to catch up, were out May 20 until 3 a.m. and stopped planting only because it started to rain.
Filing a crop insurance claim is not something he's considered seriously yet, but it's on his mind more and more as the window for planting further narrows.
"I don't know that we're there yet. You can plant a pretty late crop and still have decent results, but it won't be as good as it could have been,'' Schafer said.
Mintert also revealed farmers will receive another federal payment to make up for the negative impact the ongoing trade war with China is having on markets.
He said the subsidy to be sent probably in late June or early July could serve as an incentive for farmers to go ahead and plant to qualify for the subsidy.
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