News
Rain halts Michigan harvest
Tar spot pressure was expected to make the timing of harvest in Michigan somewhat of a challenge, but widespread rains have brought a new wave of difficulties.
Kristen Poley with the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan tells Brownfield combines started to roll just a few weeks ago, the earliest in recent memory.
“A lot of that has to do with tar spot and issues with stalk integrity and grain moisture—but the weather also plays a huge role in that,” she says.
Michigan Corn Growers Association President Randy Poll tells Brownfield he finished harvesting his soybeans before about two and a half inches fell on his Hamilton farm over the past two weeks.
“It slowed us down a little bit, we are moving back home a little bit where it’s sandier ground,” he says.
For the most part, Poll says the soil needed the moisture, and winds this week are helping dry out his crops with about three weeks left of harvest.
Poley says unfortunately there is downed corn infected by tar spot and wet weather in some places leaving farmers with the difficult choice to harvest a wetter crop, possibly compacting soils or leaving it in the field to dry down more.
