With 2024 in the rearview mirror, Purdue on the Farm tracks results 

By Scott Gabbard 

The 2024 growing season is in the rearview mirror with only marketing, handling and deliveries left to be made. Ahead is 2025 with a multitude of holes to punch on to-do lists that range from equipment repair or replacement to crop inputs and contracts. Hopefully everyone had a few days to work in friends and families during the holidays. 

Now is time to share some results from 2024. Not including faculty, we had 29 extension educators and staff throughout the state scouting soybean and corn fields in 27 counties. 

Before we dive into the details, a huge thank you needs to be extended to our farmer partners throughout the state who let us walk their fields, take samples, ask questions and provide clarity to our answers. This partnership allows us greater access beyond the relationships Purdue has with the farm community and gives us additional insights to events or trends that happen during the cropping season. 

Details of the information we gathered were in the previous column, but here is a speed-read recap: At planting we gathered planting dates, rates, seed treatments and pre/post weed control plans. Then we went to the field. After establishment (V2-V4), we measured plant populations, took an overall average and stratified soil sample (0-4 inches, 4-8 inches) with a portion of the 4-8 inches sample tested for soybean cyst nematode (SCN), if applicable. 

Following pollination (R2-R3), we took foliar samples of the uppermost mature trifoliate or ear leaf and again assessed weed, disease and insect pressure. We assessed weed, disease and insect pressure every time we walked the fields and sent samples to the Purdue Plant and Pest Disease Lab (PPDL) for confirmation or if requested by state extension faculty. Late in the season, some also helped confirm tar spot throughout the state and sent in mycotoxin samples at harvest time. Cooperative efforts such as this will only increase and improve in the future. 

Sample size increased in 2024 

Also in the September column, the 2023 sample size was reported. In 2024, it increased. For soybeans, extension educators partnered with 29 farmers on 33 fields in 22 counties, scouting more than1,996 acres. For corn, educators partnered with 27 farmers on 34 fields in 23 counties, scouting 1,704 acres. 

While not indicative of any specific county, when observations are compiled throughout the state, trends begin to emerge or confirm observations already made. We’ll start with the planting dates. During the last two decades, soybean planting dates have moved earlier into the spring. Our scouted fields had soybean planting dates range from March 29 to June 9 while corn spanned April 18 to June 20. 

Overall soil fertility was much better this year, especially when compared to last year. However, this is more likely due to when we took the samples (V2-V4) which was ideal for most in 2024 but too hot and too dry in 2023. Looking at the foliar leaf samples of 2023, plant fertility did not reflect the soil test deficiencies because the rains had returned and uptake had commenced. 

For 2024, the one disturbing trend was that 87 percent (27 or 31 fields) of corn showed sulfur levels below .25 percent. While the lack of rain during pod and kernel fill left some of the yield in the field, sulfur deficiency was likely another. 

Weed and insect pressure 

Weed pressures were all of the usual suspects. Insects threw a curve ball. 

There was aphid pressure in 26 percent of the scouted fields and 21 percent of the soybean fields during midseason scouting. While nobody likes to see aphids in the fields, spotting them during these growth stages serves as an indicator of just how good reproductive conditions were (cool and cloudy) before the tap turned off. A total of 36 percent of the corn fields and 18 percent of the soybean fields indicated fungicide use. 

As mentioned earlier, every county in Indiana had tar spot this year. Fortunately for many, it was either treated in the early reproductive stages or came on late which reduced its impact. 

So, our team tracked what many farmers lived through in 2024. A swath in the northeastern part of the state had delayed plantings where most of the rest the state enjoyed near-ideal establishment and early growth. We weathered a derecho and an early hurricane peppered us with rust. 

Here’s to straight rows and great growing season in 2025, and a big thank you to all of those that have helped us monitor the 2024 crop.