(WFRV) – Farmers across northeast Wisconsin say they are feeling optimistic about this season’s crop yield, especially compared to last year.
“We are on pace for a record year,” Brickstead Dairy Farmer Dan Brick said.
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Data from the United States Department of Agriculture showed that 78% of corn thus far in Wisconsin was rated good and or excellent, exceeding last year’s numbers, which were 58% on July 15.
Last year, farmers had to push back their initial planting date. This time around, Brick said he was able to plant at an ideal time.
“Last year, it was June 12 by the time we got our first seed in the ground, and this year it was the first week in May,” Brick said. “It was favorable planning conditions when we started.”
For corn, after the farmers plant the seed, the soil takes it and nearly 12 hours later, the plants are supposed to grow. This year, the plants mostly grew at the same time because of the ideal weather conditions leading up to it.
Colin Van De Loo, a University of Wisconsin-Madison research graduate student, said the conditions for a good plant require a few things.
“We want the soil dry enough, but not too dry to work it into a fine silt texture and then we plant at that optimal time,” Van De Loo said. “Ideally, it rains the day after planting.”
After the crops are planted, they need a perfect combination to survive.
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“If we could get full sun and we could get adequate rainfall periodically throughout the year and a dry fall to plant and dry crop to harvest, that is the perfect crop,” County Vision Co-op Agronomist Tim Pagel said.
As long as the sun continues to shine and northeast Wisconsin continues to get about one inch of rain weekly, the corn should continue to thrive, local farmers said.
