Wheat farmers still need less rain

Published 1:42pm Wednesday, August 25, 2010
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Rains across Minnesota might be letting up a little, but it’s not quite enough for Otter Tail County farmers. University of Minnesota Extension Educator Doug Holen said that, for now, the less rain the area gets, the better.

In the US Department of Agriculture’s weekly crop report for the state, it reported that the spring wheat harvest is doing exceptionally well. As of last week, spring wheat is 89 percent harvested, up from the five-year average of 57 percent and last year’s small total of 14 percent.

Holen said that there isn’t that much wheat left in the fields, but what is left has been stalled by rain. “We haven’t been getting as much as of late, but with this half inch (on Monday) … any amount now acts as a greater amount because of what has happened before,” he explained.

However, farmers have gotten a little more wheat harvested than they had previously been able to.

Farmers, he continued, “are looking for kind of a dryer spell,” along with more sun. Such conditions will dry out the spring wheat enough to be harvested, and they will also help the soybean maturation process.

Holen added that the alfalfa and grass farmers use for hay also needs to be dried. “Those conditions will help for any of the field work,” he said.

The report also stated that across Minnesota, 90 percent of field corn was rated in good or excellent condition, and 88 percent of soybeans was rated in good or excellent condition.

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