(WTAQ-WLUK) — Farm fields around Northeast Wisconsin are pretty empty this time of year… not that we should expect anything different.
According to the most recent USDA crop report, Wisconsin planting is barely underway. But that’s in line with long term averages.
Despite an up-and-down spring weather-wise, Hobart dairy farmer Daniel Diederich says things are pretty much on schedule.
“We got some snow. It melted, but it wasn’t a lot. It didn’t freeze again really hard right away. And then we got snow later, and it didn’t freeze underneath it. So, it was all kind of fine, and it worked out OK. And right now, we’re more or less on track for where we want to be,” says Diederich.
Where they want to be is fields that aren’t soaked with standing water, but aren’t too dry either.
Considering how much snow we got just a month ago, it might come as a surprise that the fields are where farmers want them.
But according to Brent Petersen, an agronomist with Brown County Land and Water Conservation, a lack of deep ground frost this past winter allowed the ground to soak up that melting snow like a sponge.
“Any of the snow melt that we’ve had, and any of the rains that we’ve had, have had an opportunity to work through the soil profiles. So, that’s going to help us out here when we start reaching the middle of summer, that kind of thing, where we’ve got some additional moisture to try and get us through the dry periods,” says Petersen.
Petersen and Diederich both say it’s a little too early to do much planting right now, but it’s probably not too far off.
And, again, that’s right about where they want things to be for a productive season.
“It really is helpful to see things moving at a pace that makes sense and not have to worry that we’re already behind or we’ve got problems,” says Diederich. “We’ve got time to finish getting the field equipment ready. The long-range forecast is doing the things it should do. It’s looking like it’s going to be in the mid 60s. In another week, we’re going to be looking okay.”
