(Lakefield, Mn.)– Area farmers continue to face challenges in getting crops in the ground thanks to the wet spring. Jim Nesseth of Extended Ag Services says progress is being made, but it’s off and on…
“I believe we’re probably 75, 80 percent planted on the corn, maybe a little bit more with these last couple days, and probably about half the soybeans. So considering as tough as it’s been out in the field to get something done, they’ve made tremendous progress with what we’ve got planted so far.”
He says it isn’t time to panic just yet for those who have had wetter fields…
“You know you could maybe shift down a little bit once we’re getting here to the last half of May. Certainly if you have some full season varieties you can probably do a switch to something earlier, that would make some sense. But overall soybeans I think we’re good there yet and we still, with crop insurance we’ve got the full month of May before you have any less coverage and June 10th with soybeans, and so I think if we can just finish off this crop here, if we just get stuff planted here before Memorial Day, I think we’ll be in good shape.”
Nesseth says there are signs of uneven emergence with some of the corn that’s come up. He says warmer temperatures and sunshine would help with that. And while they haven’t been an issue yet, Nesseth is encouraging producers to be on the lookout for pests, especially cutworms.
