Brad Weger is a 35-year-old third-generation farmer who lives in Robinson in Crawford County. He studied ag business at Vincennes University in Vincennes, Indiana, before returning to the family farm full-time in 2010. His family operates a conventional-till row-crop farm growing corn and soybeans. Brad farms alongside his dad, uncle and grandpa, who is largely retired. 

Spring got off to a rocky start here in Crawford County. A tornado devastated the area on March 31 with three lives lost, many homes leveled and three farms completely destroyed. We spent the first two weeks of April like most other farmers cleaning up fields and helping neighbors pick up the pieces. We were able to finish up spraying burndown and got started on anhydrous in the middle of the month. Some guys planted some corn in the area last week, but with the wet and cold forecast we focused on finishing up anhydrous and sticking a few beans in the ground. We received eight-tenths to an inch of rain last Thursday night into Friday along with much cooler temps. I wouldn’t call us behind yet, but with the foreseeable forecast being abnormally cool and multiple chances of rain the next 15 days, we are not far from it. 

Much of the same weather-wise here last week — cooler than usual temperatures and some rain showers. We did manage to get a couple days of running middle of the week before some showers left us sitting idle again. We still haven’t planted the first kernel of corn on our farm as we are trying to wait for the right weather conditions as cold soil temperatures are less than ideal for corn germination. The next 15-day forecast is positive temperature-wise, but with the good comes the bad — rain chances. I suspect we will be back to planting beans mid-week, and fingers crossed we will get some corn in the ground if we can dodge the rain showers.

We finally have had some spring-like temperatures! We were able to get back into the fields Tuesday afternoon and hit it pretty hard. We have about a day left of bean planting and we are off to a decent start on corn. Some guys are getting close to wrapped up and others are just getting started. We received some welcomed rain Saturday evening into the night along with more showers Sunday evening as well. Forecast shows decent chance of more rain through the next seven days so I don’t expect much field work this week. 

Progress is progress, right? Was able to finish planting beans Thursday and started back on corn Saturday. Rains Friday evening into the overnight were very spotty, a tenth to over 1 inch fell around our parts. Snuck the corn planter back out of the shed Sunday evening before the next rain fell overnight. It looks like more chances of rain the next few days. We did need some rain on a few fields, so that’s a positive. 

A pretty productive week here at least in my part of the county. We did have some spotty rain showers which has been the story all spring. Some areas had none and others have about 1 inch. Some have wrapped up planting and some still have a ways to go on corn and beans both. No rain in the forecast for the next two weeks should allow everyone to get wrapped up with planting, however, we might be begging for some rain before that two weeks are over. We still can see our breath in the mornings, which isn’t normal for the end of May.