The latest USDA crop progress report confirms what a drive past a lot of brown fields along I-29 will tell you: a lot of farmers are late getting their crops in. The week leading up to June 16 was pretty good for catching up on delayed planting, but only a little more than half of the corn crop and a third of the soybean crop is poking out of the ground.
| Crop | Planted % | 5-yr avg % | Emerged % | 5-yr avg % |
| corn | 78 | 100 | 56 | 97 |
| soybeans | 70 | 98 | 36 | 89 |
| oats | 96 | 100 | 91 | 99 |
| sorghum | 68 | 84 | ||
| sunflowers | 56 | 71 | ||
| Crop | Emerged % | 5-yr avg % | Headed % | 5-yr avg % |
| winter wheat | 53 | 84 | ||
| spring wheat | 97 | 99 | 5 | 37 |
Two thirds of the land has adequate moisture; 25% of the land has surplus topsoil moisture and 31% of the land has more than enough subsoil moisture.
All that water makes the grass green, at least: pasture and range conditions are 1% very poor, 3% poor, 15% fair, 56% good, and 25% excellent.
South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture Kim Vanneman reminds us that, weather and Senator Cronin be darned, the last day for applying dicamba is still June 30:
“While the weather has had an impact on planting this year, which I know is frustrating for many producers, the fact remains that warmer conditions in July increase the risk of volatility and drift when using dicamba products. The cutoff date is based on data which supports increased risk of drift after July 1,” says Secretary of Agriculture Kim Vanneman. “I encourage producers to explore the other products available to them once the cutoff date for use of dicamba has passed” [South Dakota Department of Agriculture, press release, 2019.06.17].
Minnesota has plans for this ongoing issue and Minnesota farmer Chris Mosel, urges the state lege to fund the U of MN’s research 100%.
is.gd/WIE6Z3 Strib paywall
“A recent Michigan State University study of 70 million acres in 10 Midwestern states, including Minnesota, found that around a quarter of our cornfields are consistently ‘unstable yielders’ as a result of being too wet, too dry or otherwise unsuitable for cropping. Because these low-yielders waste nutrients, they account for more than 40% of the nitrogen fertilizer escaping into our water as a pollutant and atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. Wasted fertilizer is wasted money. Michigan State estimates farmers lose $1 billion in fertilizer annually as a result of unstable yielders. As climate change accelerates, the costs of unstable acres, both economically and environmentally, will only go up.”
“It turns out crops for a new climate reality are being developed. The University of Minnesota’s Forever Green Initiative has been experimenting with crops like Kernza, a perennial wheatgrass, and pennycress, an oilseed that can overwinter and grow alongside soybeans. What I like about this research is that it is not only tackling issues like harvestability but also working on developing markets. That’s important, because it’s crazy to ask farmers to make changes if they can’t make money.”
“This year’s weather proves we need to ramp up research efforts quickly. One way to do that is for Gov. Tim Walz and his Department of Agriculture to fully fund Forever Green at $10 million per biennium. Even if you don’t farm, such an investment is money well spent. It would not only keep Minnesota agriculture viable but clean up our water and help the land stay resilient in the face of extreme weather.
“This spring was another reminder that climate change is modifying the way we interact with the land and that nature is not going to wait for us to adjust. We need new cropping options to meet the challenge of the new normal. Now.”
Great article Ms. Debbo. Yes, farmers are going to have to diversify and to do that they will need to be subsidized to make the gamble for change. Farmers also need to be told that maybe their land is not suitable for farming. Isn’t that why we have the US Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency’s? It’s supposed to be the local Farm Service Agency that forgot their job. “It developed out of an earlier New Deal agency called the Resettlement Administration (RA). The FSA resettled poor farmers on more productive land, promoted soil conservation, provided emergency relief and loaned money to help farmers buy and improve farms.”
The FSA also includes this “The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is the United States Department of Agriculture agency into which were merged several predecessor agencies, including the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS).”
In short, 90% of South Dakota should be soil bank, then you would not need traps to provide protection for the buzzard Pheasants. They would be as plentiful as what once were Passenger Pigeons. There would also be a reduction in the dead zone where the Mississippi runs into the Gulf of Mexico.
New crops, new climate realities—wow, yet another way that farmers voting for Trump are shooting themselves in the foot, all for a very temporary id-scratch that won’t pay the mortgage.
BTW, my guesstimate from paying attention to the fields as I drive, tells me that about 15% of the fields are still fallow and may remain that way. That’s in my neighborhood mostly south of St. Paul for about 50 miles. I guess they plan to take advantage of the program that I’ve forgotten the details of.
It’s weird to see fallow fields. I don’t think anyone does that any more. Back in the day that was good soil stewardship, plus crop rotation.