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Corn Illustrated: This slideshow depicts the good, the bad and the ugly that made up the 2019 season.

Tom J Bechman 1, Editor, Indiana Prairie Farmer

November 12, 2019

12 Slides

A farmer got it right recently when he told a group of college kids, “Thirty years from now, you can tell your co-workers how you helped grow corn in the worst season in 40 years.” The 2019 season will be remembered, like it or not.

This slideshow tells a story no one would have believed a year ago. How could weather possibly keep your planter in the shed until June, only to get it out and plant corn that would still make 200 bushels per acre? Yet it happened in some cases.

No, it didn’t happen in every case, and this slideshow documents that, as well. Some of you opted not to plant and took prevented planting through crop insurance instead, especially if you were in an area where it simply didn’t stop raining until well into June. And if you did plant and farm in an area where, once it stopped raining, it forgot how to rain again until late October, you likely didn’t see 200-bushel yields either.       

But for those who did plant corn in June and harvested 180 to over 200 bushels per acre, this slideshow is a testament to just how far corn genetics and technology — including ways of applying nitrogen, controlling weeds and keeping diseases in check — have advanced over the past few decades. The 1981 season was challenging for many people as well, but once they planted, the weather was more favorable during the rest of the year. However, 200-bushel yields were uncommon that year, to say the least.

A wise person says you can find at least one good thing in almost any event, no matter how horrific or challenging. Before you say goodbye to 2019, see if you can find at least one good thing to carry forward.

About the Author(s)

Tom J Bechman 1

Editor, Indiana Prairie Farmer

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