Mid-July in the Indiana is traditionally a time of anxious waiting as row crops enter their critical reproductive stages. This year, the stakes feel even higher for Hoosier producers, who are managing a highly variable crop that has bounced from early frost risks to a punishing mid-summer heat dome.
For David Lawson, who farms near Shelbyville in Shelby County, the uneven nature of the 2026 season has been evident since the planters first rolled.
“We started out, we got a lot of beans planted early, and we did have some frost on them,” Lawson says, reflecting on the spring. “I think we had some that had at least a light frost on them, probably two or three times, and I think it set them back. I felt like the beans probably took it a little harder than the corn as far as the growth. I think our beans should have been a lot bigger a lot earlier.”…