Some were expecting big shifts in yield numbers in USDA’s Crop Production report on Friday, but the shift in Indiana crops was minimal. USDA stuck with their prediction of Indiana corn yield at 205 bushels per acre. They decreased Indiana soybean yield by one bushel, down to 61 bushels per acre.
Hoosier Ag Today posed the question to Purdue Extension’s ‘Soybean Shaun’ Casteel in August of what it would take for crops to reach those estimates.
“The perfect conditions. That’d be the nice, timely rains, the sunshine, all those things. We haven’t gotten those in the last few weeks. It has been dry.”
Casteel explains that in the southeast part of the state, later planted crops have compromised root systems that will limit yield. And in the northeast part of Indiana, “beans are turning. They’re flipping over. So, yeah, I think this crop is quickly, quickly coming. Water rules the day, and the lack of it, we’re hitting senescence pretty quick.”
So, how far off are we from that 61 bpa in Casteel’s opinion?
“As far as good to excellent conditions, we’re still around the low 60s, like 61%. So, that’s fair. Our highest yield, our record-breaking years, we were around 65% to 70% as we tail out July, August and September, and we just haven’t been there. We’ve been in the upper 50s, low 60s, good to excellent, most of the season, both crops, and I just don’t see us advancing in any way to get to that level.”
In August, Casteel predicted a 58.5 bushel per acre statewide average for soybeans. After the August weather, Casteel says, “I’d say we might be struggling to get that at the state level.
Nationally, USDA projects corn yield at 186.7 bpa and soybeans at 53.5 bpa.
