By Brian E. Clark
WisBusiness.com
Recent storms provided much-needed moisture for farmers in the southern tier of the state, but dry conditions continue north of Stevens Point, according to farmers and the most recent report from the Wisconsin Agriculture Statistics Service.
Though Rock and Dane counties got more than four inches of rain and La Crosse got 1.3 inches, Brown County’s Green Bay and other parts of the state got little or nothing, the report said. In addition, it said soil moisture conditions were rated at 41 percent very short, 32 percent short, 26 percent adequate and 1 percent surplus.
Mark Hagedorn, the UW Extension county agriculture agent in Brown County, said rainfall has been “spotty and sparse” for the past several weeks.
Hagedorn said he had just returned from a farm technology show in Albany, southwest of Madison, where he saw lush, green fields.
“Up north, though, we are definitely seeing heat stress in corn and soybeans,” he said Wednesday. “Some rains may come through tonight, though.”
Hagedorn said farmers he talks with are not yet desperate.
“But we could use it,” he added. “I’d like to see at least 1.5 inches of rain spread out over 36 hours. That would be ideal to keep the corn growing and healthy.”
Hagedorn said soybeans aren’t yet showing as much stress as corn.
“But the jury is out on podfilling, so we need that moisture,” he said, noting that recent winter wheat harvest had been excellent.
Bob Olson, who farms 700 near Whitewater and is executive director of the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, said while the north part of the state is suffering, the south is doing well.
“The southwest part of the state is looking at a record crop,” he said.
“To me, this looks like a fairly normal year,” he said philosophically. “It is always too wet or too dry somewhere. And in Illinois, it looks like a jungle, so grain market prices are edging down.”
Olson said his farm his farm received an inch of rain on July 3 and then had to wait until the most recent storm for another 2.5 inches.
“It was critical, so now we are looking good,” he said. “But fortunately, the new varieties of corn are less susceptible to drought, insect and disease.”
Elsewhere, the federal government has declared 24 drought-stricken Minnesota counties to be agricultural disaster areas, which will open the way for low-interest emergency farm loans for affected farmers.
Another 32 counties that are adjacent to the designated counties also are eligible. One of them is Douglas County in Wisconsin.
