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Bainbridge: ‘Hoping’ is the key word

Southeastern South Dakota farmer Lewis Bainbridge is hoping for a late frost. “Exactly,” said Bainbridge, “and ‘hoping’ is the key word here.”

What was planted looks good, according to Bainbridge, but it needs more time before cold weather. What he was able to get in was too little, too late.

“We are over 90 percent not planted, so less than ten percent planted to our normal crops: corn, beans and wheat,” Bainbridge told Brownfield Ag News Monday. “We never planted a thing until the first part of June.”

Bainbridge’s cow herd is benefiting from a good grass year except for the pasture acres that have been frequently flooded.

“Some of it is matted down; a lot of it has so much dirt from the flooding in it that it’s unusable,” said Bainbridge, the immediate past chairman of the United Soybean Board, “but the balance of the grass is just flat incredible, so we’re very thankful for that.”