If you haven’t entered the Crop Watch ’16 yield contest yet, here is your final chance. Entries are due postmarked by Sept. 15 in the mail, or you can email your entry up to 11:59 p.m. EDT.

All you have to do is guess the average yield of the 20-acre cornfield in central Indiana that the Crop Watch project has followed this season. Free seed for 2017 will be provided to the top three winners in eligible states by Seed Consultants Inc. First place will receive eight bags of seed corn, second place will get six bags, and the third closest guess will win four bags of seed corn.

STILL TIME TO ENTER AND WIN: The clock is ticking, but all it takes is an email with your yield guess and some specific information to enter the Crop Watch ’16 contest. See details below.

Dave Nanda, a consultant for Seed Consultants Inc., says it has been a topsy-turvy year for the Crop Watch field. It was planted April 27, but cool, wet conditions hampered emergence. The cooperators spotted in an earlier-maturing hybrid in areas of the field where they thought the stand would be thinner than they wanted.

Despite the shaky start, plenty of rain and an absence of disease until late in the season have favored the field. It’s on silt loam soils, with natural soil drainage ranging from somewhat poor to poor to well-drained. The majority of the field is naturally somewhat poorly drained.

The poorest-drained spots not served by tile appeared to be where the weakest stands were last spring.

Pollination seemed to go well. Warmer-than-normal, but not hot, weather existed during much of the pollination period, for both the earlier-planted and later-planted corn in the field.

Make your guess to the nearest tenth of a bushel, corrected to 15.5% moisture. Average yield of the field will be used as the final yield. Those guessing closest to the actual yield will win. In the case of a tie, winning entries will be entered into a drawing, and the winner will be selected at random.

Be sure to include your name, physical address, cellphone number, number of acres of each crop grown and email address, if entering by mail.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.  A purchase does not improve your chances of winning.  Contest open to legal residents of Indiana and/or Ohio who are 18 or older.  To enter, send your guess of the final Crop Watch yield to Indiana Prairie Farmer, P.O. Box 247, Franklin, IN 46131, or enter by email at [email protected]. All entries must be received by Sept. 15, 2016.  Winner is entrant closest to final yield for the Crop Watch field.  Void outside of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia and where prohibited by law.  To obtain Full Rules, visit farmprogress.com/cropwatchcontest.