Local farmer: ‘Producers are evaluating their options’ with soaked fields

Posted on May 19, 2019
Flooded crops
With flooding impacting fields across the state, USDA’s Mark Schleusener says farmers are evaluating their options. (Shane McGraw/flickr)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – The weekly crop report from the USDA’s Mark Schleusener shows hardly any corn or soybean planting in the past week.

Corn planted advanced only one percentage point to eleven percent, compared to 88 percent a year ago, and 82 percent for the five-year average. Soybeans are unchanged at three percent, compared to 61 percent last year and a five-year average of 34 percent.

“I think producers are evaluating their options,” Schleusener said, noting the continued water-logged conditions. “One is called prevent plant, like an insurance where they get some of the money they anticipated for growing a crop.”

Schleusener says some corn farmers may switch to soybeans.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].

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