Day 2, 19-20: June 28 & July 14-15, 2020
9th Annual US Corn Belt Crop Tour Summary of the State of Indiana
The 2020 9th Annual U.S. Corn Belt Crop tour route in the state of Indiana on Day 2, 19 and 20 June 28th, July 14 and 15th, 2020. All 3 days were hot with day 1 at 100 with the heat index and day 2 and 3 at 90F+. We travelled from Middletown, OH south west to Evansville, IN on day 1. On Day 2 and 3 we travelled from east before heading north from Dunn, IN to South Whitley to Elkhart before heading into Michigan. The crops in south were not as further along as we thought due to cold/wet planting conditions that caused a lot of replanting. The North was good for the most part but the north east from South Whitley to Elkhart was very dry, brown grass with short stunted crops 3 to 5 feet corn and tasseled due to the May cold snap and June heat that has shaved the top end yields. Timely weekly rains are needed to recover.


Many thanks to Charles Elgin from Scottsburg and Steve Sikafoose from South Whitley, Indiana for their hospitality. According to Charles a “cool/wet spring caused a lot of replanting and corn to be planted late.” Steve said, “we will not lose our shorts, but we lost our smile.”
When comparing 2019 to 2020 in the state of Indiana, 2019 had more moisture and drowned out areas while 2020 had more dry weather and heat. Both the early cold snap in April & May and the early heat in June may have provided too many bad days for both the corn and soybean crops. The lighter grounds are struggling with corn stressing and running out of gas. Crop stress and pineapple corn was especially evident in the northeast of IN, in South Whitley county. 2020 corn acres are up 8.0% while soybean acres are up 5.5% vs. 2019. The top and subsoil moisture is below average at 57% down 15% and 22% respectively vs. 2019.
The record high in 2018 for corn was 189 bpa and soybeans 58.5. We rank the state an 7.5 out of 10 with average yield potential a lack of accumulated precipitation will not achieve record crops in 2020 unless we get a great finish and very timely rains.

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