Posted: 4/24/07
Warmer weather ushers in spring planting push for area farmers
By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
While the final blast of winter slapped the area with six to eight inches of heavy, wet snow on April 11, spring has finally arrived, and with it the spring planting season.
During the past week, more and more farmers have been venturing out into their fields, in preparation of the big spring planting push.
According to Ag Tech Advisor Jerry Tesmer, fieldwork commenced last week "with lots of manure and fertilizer being spread. Fieldwork has started, especially for farmers with the right type of soils," Tesmer said last Thursday. "I think within a week, weíre going to see a lot of ground being worked up."
When asked if the spring push is starting later than normal, the veteran extension agent replied, "it might be a week or so later than the past few years. But itís hard to say whatís normal anymore. Weíve had some very early springs recently. When you look at the big picture, mid-to-late April is pretty close to the average time we start seeing a lot of activity in the fields."
According to the latest information, the soil temperature in Southeast Minnesota is about four degrees lower than the average for mid-April. Although weíve been experiencing fairly average temps during the day, the colder-than-average nights have kept Mother Earth from warming up as rapidly as most springs.
Sub-soil and topsoil moisture contents are ideal in this section of the state, according to Tesmer. Although we had another "brown Christmas" this winter, several soaking rains in December and over three feet of wet snow in March and April have put farmers in this section of the country in "pretty good shape when it comes to moisture levels."
The demand for more corn acres and strong prices (fueled partially by the increased interest in ethanol) have ag experts predicting a record number of acres planted with corn this year in the U.S. Tesmer feels the number of corns acres will increase somewhat in Houston County, but the shift to more corn wonít be as drastic locally, because many farmers are locked in on their crop rotations due to livestock.
Dairy farmers are still going to have to raise alfalfa and oats for feed and bedding, and beef and hog producers corn and beans for feed.
"In this area, where we have the Karst geology, a shift away from soybeans to more corn is probably a plus, since you have less soil erosion with corn than beans," Tesmer noted. "Many of the farmers in this area will continue their current crop rotation practices, although they might add one more year of corn in there."
And while itís way too early to predict what the 2007 growing season will bring to area farmers, "weíre looking at a pretty good situation right now," Tesmer concluded.
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