Weather holds farm ground hostage

Mother Nature is holding back some farmers in Jackson County as they struggle to plant their ground with corn and soybeans.

"Planting is far behind," Jackson County Purdue Extension Director Richard Beckort said Wednesday. "It's going to be a busy first week of June. The corn is only 50 percent planted.

"It's basically from wet weather. Just as fields dry, more rain comes," Beckort said. "I think producers are thinking about switching from corn to soybeans. I think they need to rethink that. They also need to think, ‘Is that seed available?'"

Farmer Donald Schnitker said he hasn't made the switch, and he only recently began planting.

"I didn't start planting until last Thursday. It's all about the weather. The things I planted dried up quickly, because the ground was warm," Schnitker said. "Everything was going great until the rain last Monday. We need the ground to dry up again."

Rainfall Monday was 0.32 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

For those who do make  the change, Bige Doyle, who sells seed in Crothersville, sees switching from corn to soybeans happening soon.

"I look for them to start," Doyle said. "Last year, they were planting corn until the 26th of June. I think (this year), they'll go to the 10th of June."

"Last year, commodity prices were higher then. Corn is under $4 and input is extremely high. There are high inputs. High prices of corn, nitrogen and other chemicals equal high inputs," Doyle said.

"Farmers like to get their corn planted in April and finish up in early May," he said. "And that's not been happening. I don't know about Jackson County, but in Vernon Township, there's probably less than 10 percent planted total, corn and soybeans."

Recent rain has also set back planting time for farmer Robert Zollman.

"We're pretty late," Zollman said. "We just have eleven acres planted. We're finally dry after three days of rain."

Elsewhere in the state, progress has been made.

According to the Department of Agriculture, more than 55 percent of Indiana's corn has been planted. Two weeks ago, only 24 percent was planted, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.

According to the AP, planting is 19 days behind the average pace.

More than 25 percent of Indiana's soybeans have been planted, up from 6 percent two weeks ago.

According to the National Weather Service, Jackson County has a 40 percent chance of rain today and clear, warm weather on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of next week.