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Last updated on Tuesday, October 15, 2013
(UNDATED) - Hoosier cornfields may produce a record crop this year as farmers begin their harvest.
Purdue agronomist Chris Hurt says corn growers benefited from ideal weather this year: a wet spring followed by a cool summer. He says Indiana is on track for 166 bushels of corn per acre, and there's still time to surpass the record of 171 set four years ago.
The bumper crop is especially welcome after last year's drought, which Hurt says left 30-percent of Hoosier grain-processing capacity idle.
Indiana's other big crop, soybeans, isn't faring as well. A dry August and September hit too late to do any harm to corn or wheat yields, but did put a dent in soybean productivity.
Hurt says, "We expect around a fifty bushel yield as average. This year the USDA is talking about 48 bushels so very close to average but maybe a bit under. Certainly on corn we are talking somewhat above average crop, and it may end up being a very good crop."
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