INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana farmers are clinging to hopes they can salvage something from a dismal year.

The rainy spring delayed planting for many corn and soybean farmers, in some cases pushing it as late as June. The U-S Department of Agriculture’s August crop forecast predicts a 15-percent drop in soybean yields, and a 12-percent drop for corn.

Purdue agronomist Bob Nielsen says even that gloomy forecast may be too optimistic. After getting drenched in the spring, much of the state fell victim to drought in July, and those conditions could spread further this month. And Nielsen notes the U-S-D-A rates only a little more than a third of the crop in good condition. He says there’s a good chance that damage pushes the final yields even lower.

There’s a little more hope for a comeback for soybeans. Purdue agronomist Shaun Casteel says September will “make or break” that crop. He says a warm, dry September would give soybean farmers time to recover from the planting delays. And he says farmers will be looking at crop management, assessing how irrigation, pesticides and fungicides might help salvage more of the plants.

If the weather cooperates, Casteel says soybeans could still rebound to a decline of five-to-seven-percent. After several years of above-average yields, he says that would be a figure Hoosier farms could live with.

But Nielsen and Casteel both warn the late start creates more risk an early frost could kill plants that haven’t matured.

Indiana’s 2018 soybean yield per acre ranked third in the nation, behind Illinois and Nebraska. The U-S-D-A projection would drop the state to eighth.