By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH

Indiana Correspondent

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Farmers whose fields are still too wet to plant must consider several factors – including potential yield loss and crop insurance – when making decisions about their 2019 crops, according to professors from Purdue University’s College of Agriculture.

“We know from research around the Midwest that after about the middle of May, corn yields decline approximately one to two bushels per acre per day,” noted Robert Nielsen, a professor of agronomy. “By the time you get out to June 10, you’re looking at potentially upwards of a 30- to 60-bushel loss.

“That still doesn’t tell us what the actual yield will be at the end of the season. Planting date is just one of many things that influences yield of corn.”

There may be a bit of an upside for farmers forced to delay planting, he said. “If there are advantages to planting late, the corn germinates quick, it emerges quick, and it goes through early growth stages quick. I don’t want to say we gain back some of that delay time, but, in essence, we do.

“It’s all about the weather, it’s about temperature, rainfall, pests, everything.”

The professors discussed delayed planting options during a May 23 webinar from the university’s Center for Commercial Agriculture.

The five-year average for soybean planting in Indiana shows farmers typically have about half their crop in the ground by May 20, said Shaun Casteel, an associate professor of agronomy. This year, 6 percent of the state’s soybeans were in the ground by that date.

In looking at late-planting seasons from the last 30 years, farmers saw yield losses of up to 10 percent from trend depending on how late the crop was planted. In 2009, when farmers didn’t reach 50 percent planted until the beginning of June, yields were up 2.1 percent from trend.

“We’ve got some flexibility to adapt to our growing season,” he pointed out. “What’s going to make or break the soybeans that are planted later – it’s not the August (weather) anymore, but the late August and September weather. We need good temperatures, adequate moisture to get those things to finish filling.”

When soybeans are planted later, they lose out on potential node and leaf production, Casteel said. To counter that, farmers should look to increasing seeding rates. Through May, producers using a 15- to 30-inch planter probably seeded at a rate of 120,000-140,000 per acre, he noted.

Going into June, farmers should increase seeding by about 15,000 per acre per week. For the first week of June, that would mean about 155,000 and by the fourth week, 200,000. For corn, there’s no need to change seeding rates with late planting, Nielsen added.

The recently announced federal Market Facilitation Program has caused some concern for farmers possibly considering prevented planting, said Jim Mintert, director of the center and a professor of agricultural economics. Wording in USDA’s initial statement about the program implies an incentive to plant something so producers are qualified to receive subsidies.

“What this could do is make prevented planting under the crop insurance programs somewhat less attractive than it was otherwise, and maybe encourage people to continue focusing on planting either corn early or soybeans later than they would have otherwise.”

Details about the program, which will provide up to $16 billion in aid to farmers impacted by trade tariffs, hadn’t been released as of press time.

The final planting date for full crop insurance coverage for corn in Indiana is June 5; the late planting period with reduced coverage is June 6-25, Mintert said. For soybeans, the final full coverage planting date is June 20. The late planting period with reduced coverage is June 21-July 15. Coverage declines 1 percent per day during the late planting period.

Farmers have the option of planting corn late, even though yields may be reduced. They may also switch from planting corn to soybeans or take the corn prevented-planting payment, equal to 55 percent of the original corn revenue guarantee.

Bob Bishop, of Bishop Farms in Leesburg, Ind., told the Indiana Farm Bureau he’s in the process of switching out his corn seed for a shorter-season hybrid. “I already sent back the 114-day corn to get some shorter-season stuff,” he said. “The next hybrid we have is 111-day, but I’m thinking about getting 108- or 99-day corn.”

Bishop, who has been farming since 1972, has seen some extremely wet springs, but conditions always improved in May.

Producers considering switching from corn to soybeans need to look at their return over variable costs, said Michael Langemeier, professor of agricultural economics and associate director of the Purdue center.

“Is your return over variable costs for soybeans going to be high enough to justify planting soybeans rather than taking the 55 percent prevented-planting payment for corn? You might have to do some work to keep the weeds down. It’s not like you don’t have to subtract some costs from that prevented-planting payment. It’s not an easy calculation,” he explained.

Fields left unplanted do still require maintenance, Bishop said. “You’ve got to do something with it in the summer or you’ll have a heck of a weed problem later. There are a few options, but they’ll cost money to do.”