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Nebraska farmer says rain is more important than beginning planting
Central Nebraska farmer Clay Govier says he hasn’t started planting yet because Mother Nature brought some much-needed rain. “For the sake of our pastures and we have a lot of cereal rye cover crop still growing,” he says. “It was starting to get to the point where that was drying some of our fields out so this half-inch of rain gives us a nice little cushion.”
The Broken Bow farmer tells Brownfield he’ll begin planting soon, and this week’s moisture won’t put him behind schedule. “With our planting equipment, we can catch up pretty quickly too. Unless it decides to start raining on us about every other day, and I don’t see that happening, then I would feel some pressure but right now I’d say we’re still sitting pretty comfortably.”
Govier says in his experience patience pays off. “There’s quite a few planters that were going a few days ahead of us but since we’re no-till it takes a little longer for soils to warm up. We typically start a few days behind some of the other guys in the area,” he says.
Govier grows corn and soybeans along with rye, yellow field peas, organic corn and red kidney beans.
