Crop Insurance and Underwater Corn

I'm hoping this blog helps some folks out there. I know it's helping me keep up on things.

There are a couple of articles in the latest edition of Ag Answers which may interest people. George Patrick, Purdue Ag Economist and Crop Insurance Guru has some advice for people considering using the June 5 corn Prevented Planting Provision.

And we're pretty familiar with this after the past few years (I'd just switched from Youth to Ag when we had the June, 2003 rains that transformed Clinton County into a marshland of rotting crops) but Bob Nielsen has an article about the response of the corn plant to ponding and saturated soils.

And it may be too wet to plant or do any fieldwork, at least in the northern part of the county, but it's not too early to do some scouting. The Purdue Pest & Crop Newsletter has some advice about things to look for. In particular, black cutworm could be a problem this year.

Also, a friend of mine in Tippecanoe County said she saw her first firefly last night. We all know this means corn rootworm won't be far behind (unless they all drowned?). I know Purdue is interested in how refuge-in-the-bag will work so if you planted some and you see something interesting (funky?) give me a call. I'm not sure if we can get a specialist to come out and look, though we have better luck than some people since we're close to campus, but I can at least take some pictures and send them in. And don't worry, the Purdue people (and I) are pretty good about confidentiality.