Wet, cold spring keeps farmers out of fields across Minnesota

A sugar beet can take the cold.

It's the wetness now preventing farmer Neil Rockstad from entering his fields in the heart of the Red River Valley.

"If I had to guess, it'll take two weeks of drying weather before we will be able to get into the field," said Rockstad, who farms outside Ada, Minn., in Norman County.

He's not alone. If this dreary, soggy conclusion to winter has soured spirits, it's also thwarted farmers' best-laid planting plans.

Most Minnesota acreages — from southern corn planters to northwestern wheat fields — are vacant for the moment as producers wait for spring temperatures, sunshine and dry winds to kick-start their crops.

The latest weekly report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday showed startling lags in the state's planting statistics: Less than 1% of corn and soybeans are planted; only a full 1% of barley, potatoes, and beets are planted.

Last year — admittedly an early entry year — saw over 70% of beets laid out. Even on a five-year average, nearly 40% of beets are planted by May's arrival.

On Monday, Harrison Weber, executive director of Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association, read with displeasure the temperature gauge on his pickup.

"Thirty-nine degrees," said Weber. "We've just had very few days of sunlight."

Forecasters predict 60 degrees across the state by the weekend. But even with warmer temperatures, the soil needs time to dry.

Charlie Vogel, CEO of the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, said 2013 was the last time farmers saw such a dilatory planting season.

Crop insurance, he notes, can aid lost harvests due to delayed planting. In 2019, farmers recouped $4 billion in claims on more than 19 million acres damaged by moisture. But no one wants those payments, which cover only part of the sunk costs.

Once (and if) Mother Nature does hit a steady string of typical May days, planters can catch up fast. Monday's USDA report noted that between 30% and 40% of a corn crop can be planted in one week.

Richard Syverson farms north of Benson in west-central Minnesota. Once the weather turns, he'll spend about six 12-hour working days in his planter getting in his corn.

"By the time the soil is fit to go, we'll go day and night," said Syverson. "I don't think we start to lose a lot of yield until after the 10th.

"But, of course, the 10th is coming right up here."

According to University of Minnesota Extension, corn crops historically lose ground when planted after the middle of May. After May 30, yield predictions go bleak — contracting more than 1% a day.

In Minneapolis, Scott Endres, owner of Tangletown Gardens and the adjacent Wise Acre Eatery, said he's learned to be flexible with the "weather department," encouraging backyard growers to indulge cool season kales and grasses, pansies and violas. At their CSA farm 40 minutes west of the Twin Cities, the staff has only lately been able to get into the fields after frost cleared.

But Endres says they're prepared for a super-charged Minnesota summer.