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Diminishing Soil Moisture Beginning to Worry Some Northeast Wisconsin Farmers

Diminishing Soil Moisture Beginning to Worry Some Northeast Wisconsin Farmers


There isn't much going on in most farm fields in Northeast Wisconsin, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Corn is only barely starting to sprout, and planting is pretty much done.

But the most recent Department of Agriculture crop report says some trouble may be on the horizon.

Soil moisture has been disappearing fast in Wisconsin, thanks to our dry weather. And for Hobart dairy farmer Dan Diederich, it's a big issue to have this early in the growing season.

"This is a problem for all the things that we've recently planted -- the corn, alfalfa, beans -- that all have shallow root systems right now because they haven't been planted long enough to have a deep root system to get into that heavier clay farther down," said Diederich.

He says that if they don't get rain by the middle of June, he's worried some young plants will start to die.

And even though his production is just a supplement to the feed needed for his dairy operation, he's also worried about where the other feed is coming from.

"People will get hay in from Kansas, Nebraska via truckload. We bring in a lot of grain from Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota -- comes in via rail. So, we purchase a lot of things from those states. And if it's not growing, it's a problem for us," said Diederich.

 

Source: fox11online.com

Photo Credit: GettyImages-Zoran Zeremski

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Categories: Wisconsin, Crops

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