Wisconsin Ag Connection - Last Week's Rain Halted Harvest, but Boosted Crops

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Last Week's Rain Halted Harvest, but Boosted Crops
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 09/15/2020

Frequent showers kept farmers out of the fields in many parts of Wisconsin during the past week, but the precipitation did help recharge soil moistures after weeks of dry conditions. According to the latest crop/weather summary from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, northern and central Wisconsin saw the first frosts of the season mid-week. Many growers kept busy chopping corn silage and spreading manure on cleared fields.

Topsoil moisture levels were rated five percent very short, 14 percent short, 73 percent adequate and eight percent surplus.

As of Sunday, 77 percent of the corn was dented, which was 24 days ahead of last year and six days better than the five-year average. Twenty-six percent of the crop was reported mature--also several weeks better than normal. Farmers already have more than a third of their corn for silage chopped so far this year.

Seventy-three percent of the soybeans were coloring, two weeks ahead of this time in 2019 and six days ahead of the average. With 23 percent of the beans dropping leaves, reporters say some farmers were starting to combine their crop in southern areas.

About 33 percent of the winter wheat has been planted--27 days ahead of last year and two weeks ahead of normal. And some farmers were making hay between showers, bringing the fourth cutting of alfalfa to 63 percent harvested.

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