Northwest Iowa — Farmers in this area are getting a little nervous when it comes to getting the corn planted. But as Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Agronomist Joel De Jong tells us, it could be worse.
He says that as a whole, this might be the latest ever planting in the corn belt. He says Ohio is at 9 percent in the ground and Indiana is only at 14 percent.
He says the wet, cool weather has got some producers thinking about planting soybeans on acres where they were planning on planting corn, since soybeans can get by with a shorter growing season. But that comes with risk as well.
As far as soybeans, about 15 percent of those are planted in the northwest district, says De Jong. But he says that’s mostly in the southeast part of the district. Up to the northwest, where we are, virtually no soybeans have been planted yet.
He says some farmers are at least getting more information about the prevented planting option in crop insurance, which he says isn’t used very often because it’s a significantly reduced payment, but it might be better than taking a risk on inputs that might not yield anything this year.
De Jong says for more information, you can visit the “Ag Decision Maker” Extension web site or call him at the Plymouth County Extension office.
