Shaun Casteel

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Survey link: https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3Xid0TER5lkf4jk Survey QR Code: It is field day season. As I travel the state and talk with farmers and agronomists, it is clear that we have a crop that runs the spectrum of condition and yield potential. Some fields have been in the garden spot all summer and could set record crop, especially as there is plenty of soil moisture to finish filling the pods. The other end of the range are those fields that have been hammered with trains of rain. It is obvious that the ponds and the waterways that developed in May or June were refilled with August rains. However, the sand ridges and clay knobs in the same fields have looked shockingly good. The real question is the transition areas (in those fields and across the state) as they grew out of the early season stresses of waterlogging to get another round in August.[Read More…]


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Survey link: https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3Xid0TER5lkf4jk Survey QR Code: The 2026 growing season started and continues with intense rain events that dropped 3 to 6 inches in a single day, which was impressive in its own right. Unfortunately, these intense storms have continued all season long. Historic rains and floods settled across many counties of Indiana in the past few weeks with single events dumping 8 to 15 inches of rain. The effect on corn and soybeans at this point of the season is unchartered waters. Please take a few minutes to fill out the survey to provide insight to the impact to your fields/area and distribution of the extreme weather in August 2026. We welcome all responses from those who were fortunate to get timely rains to those affected by straight line winds to those in the epicenter of historic floods. We would like to partner with you to track crop response[Read More…]





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Soybean development in 2024 has been about 10 days ahead the 5-year average from flowering to pod development to leaf drop (USDA-NASS, 2024). Fast stand establishment and high accumulation of heat units (GDDs) during May and June certainly set the pace. Now in many areas, harvest is fully in gear based on the combinations of early maturities, early plantings, and late season heat and dryness. Timely planting is foundational for maximizing soybean production. Growing up in the Midwest, the mindset was to plant corn first followed by soybean (as long as it was planted by Memorial Day you were “fine”). That sentiment has changed based agronomic research, Extension recommendations, and farmers’ experience. Indiana planting of soybean shifted dramatically in 2018 to within ~4 days of corn planting where it had averaged 14 days behind corn the previous ten years. In fact, Indiana farmers continue to place high priority on soybean[Read More…]