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MO farmer looks to reset planting rotation in 2021
A northwest Missouri farmer says he plans to move closer to planting half soybeans and half corn in the 2021 growing season after floods last year disrupted his rotation.
Richard Oswald said to do so, he’ll have to plant soybeans in some areas back-to-back years. He tells Brownfield that has potential problems.
“We don’t really like to do soybeans on soybeans,” he said. “There are certain issues with soybeans that corn doesn’t have and that’s some fungal diseases and some soil borne diseases and nematodes. And so, we try not to do anything that’s going to make those things worse because we’re kind of walking on a tightrope.”
The Atchison county farmer said so far, he hasn’t had those problems with his soybeans. Oswald said if the La Nina weather pattern leads to a dryer spring, planting should go smoothly.
“If it’s a dry spring, as current weather conditions imply it will be, then it should be easy to get the corn acres we want planted early and then put in those soybean acres after that,’ he said.
Oswald farms no-till in the Mississippi river bottom.