News
NW Minnesota farmer says drought slashed wheat yields in half
Thunderstorms and light showers brought relief to some parts of Minnesota last week.
But the latest crop report from USDA says dry and hot weather persisted in other areas that needed rain.
Shayne Isane farms in the northwest part of the state and tells Brownfield conditions have deteriorated since spring.
“We’ve just been in an area that’s really missed out (on rain). We looked pretty good early on, and there were some areas that were probably worse off. But now we’re about as bad as the rest of the state.”
Isane, the District 7 director for Minnesota Farm Bureau, recently finished harvesting spring wheat and says yields were cut in half by the drought.
“On the cattle side, we have a beef cow/calf operation and our pastures are about done. Hay ground, we haven’t even taken a second cutting because there just was not enough to even bother with it. So yeah, it’s a pretty desperate situation.”
Statewide, spring wheat harvest is running about three weeks ahead of normal at 76 percent complete.
For corn, 44 percent has reached the dough stage with 36 percent of the crop considered good to excellent.
Soybeans rated good to excellent remained at 34 percent with 84 percent setting pods.
