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Wide range based on location illustrates variation in crops in Indiana.

Tom Bechman 1, Editor, Indiana Prairie Farm

June 26, 2015

2 Min Read

One Indiana Prairie Farmer Master Farmer is worried about crops because of so much water – and he farms on sandy ground.

Related: Indiana Prairie Farmer names 2015 Master Farmers

Richard Kohlhagen, Rensselaer, received another 2 inches of rain a day before the Master Farmer banquet last week. He says many of his fields have been affected by ponding. Some fields in his area appear to have lakes in them.

Yet he's not complaining. "We've seen this before and we'll get through it," he says. Part of the issue now is whether or not corn in better spots will have enough nitrogen.

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Mike Heckaman, Argos, concentrates on cows, not crops. Yet he grows corn to chop. He hires it custom-chopped each year for his dairy herd. "We buy about 50,000 bushels of corn each year for feed, so we hope someone can grow corn," he adds.

Terry and Susan Hayhurst, Terre Haute, are kind of in the middle part of the state where too much rain made planting a bit late, but where they have missed some of the huge deluges that plagued the northern part of the state. They still have field work to do, and need soils dry enough to spray herbicides and apply nitrogen.

Related: Making the most of Purdue's Top Farmer Conference

Mike Flock, Ramsey, is on the other end of the spectrum. "We were actually getting dry until a little over a week ago," he says. "We received 4 or more inches, but in our country, there are sink holes and water moves in pretty fast. Typically, and even this time, we were back out spraying in a couple days.

His comments seem to echo those of other producers from Columbus south, more or less across the southern part of the state. While the north was swimming in water, they were almost to the point of needing rain. In fact more than one person saw corn roll before rains came. It's definitely not one world for weather conditions this year.

About the Author(s)

Tom Bechman 1

Editor, Indiana Prairie Farm

Tom Bechman is an important cog in the Farm Progress machinery. In addition to serving as editor of Indiana Prairie Farmer, Tom is nationally known for his coverage of Midwest agronomy, conservation, no-till farming, farm management, farm safety, high-tech farming and personal property tax relief. His byline appears monthly in many of the 18 state and regional farm magazines published by Farm Progress.

"I consider it my responsibility and opportunity as a farm magazine editor to supply useful information that will help today's farm families survive and thrive," the veteran editor says.

Tom graduated from Whiteland (Ind.) High School, earned his B.S. in animal science and agricultural education from Purdue University in 1975 and an M.S. in dairy nutrition two years later. He first joined the magazine as a field editor in 1981 after four years as a vocational agriculture teacher.

Tom enjoys interacting with farm families, university specialists and industry leaders, gathering and sifting through loads of information available in agriculture today. "Whenever I find a new idea or a new thought that could either improve someone's life or their income, I consider it a personal challenge to discover how to present it in the most useful form, " he says.

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