Soggy spring sinks Minnesota farmer’s plan to no-till soybeans

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Soggy spring sinks Minnesota farmer’s plan to no-till soybeans

Photo courtesy NRCS

A soggy spring forced a southwest Minnesota farmer to work ground he’d normally no-till plant soybeans into.

Bryan Biegler of Lake Wilson tells Brownfield it turned wet in late March and stayed that way through most of May.

“Typically I try to no-till all my beans, and this year they just weren’t drying out very well. So I had to take my vertical till and lightly run across it just to kind of break that top layer loose a little bit, then she dried right out and I was able to get in and plant it.”

The Minnesota Corn Growers Association president also strip tills and says that went well.

“Last year I started going out and freshening the strips with freshener, putting on some 28 percent. So once that went through it dried the strips out and it planted really nice after that.”

Biegler says recent heat is making up for planting delays and some of his corn is about thigh high.

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