The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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July 12, 2009

Crops faring well

Dry, cool weather may start to take toll

By Tim Krohn

MANKATO —

So far, it’s so good for area crop farmers.

“It looks very good,” said Amboy area farmer Kevin Paape.

While rainfall is behind normal and temperatures have been a bit cool, the corn and soybean crops are off to a good start. Paape said farmers have been most happy about what the weather hasn’t brought.

“Every time we go through the weather watches and warnings and those warm afternoons that look like they’re going to brew something up, farmers all start watching the skies.”

While high winds and some spotty hail have skirted south central Minnesota in recent weeks, area fields have escaped any damaging storms.

“When the crops look so good you don’t want to see high winds blowing them down,” Paape said.

In most areas, rainfall has been below normal, but the cooler temperatures have helped preserve soil moisture. And corn leaves are now shading the rows, further conserving moisture.

Gyles W. Randall, a soil scientist at the Southern Research & Outreach Center in Waseca, said the stellar crops will need some help in coming weeks.

“Heading into the middle of July when the soybeans are fully canopied and corn will begin tasseling, we’re entering into that reproductive stage with a good looking crop.

“But we’re down to about 50 percent of normal rain. We have no excess moisture in the profile,” Randall said. “The crops could use moisture first and humidity second.”

In the past two weeks the weather has been relatively cool and mostly dry with temperatures in the upper 70s to lower 80s. The average temperature was about 68 degrees, about 3 degrees below normal.

Sweet corn is beginning to tassel, with tasseling in field corn a week or two off.

Randall said more than one inch of rain per week will be needed to minimize stress on the plants.

With recent record corn prices many farmers are committing more acres to corn. But Paape said most still try to rotate most of their fields between corn and soybeans each year.

“Crop rotations have their benefits in south central Minnesota. It prevents the disease and insect damage.”

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