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Corn planting will pick up soon

An agronomist says the short-term weather forecast should encourage more corn planting across South Dakota and Minnesota.

Rick Swenson is with Peterson Farms Seed.

“The forecast looks great with minimal rain in the next 10 days and I think that’s about as ideal as conditions can get to get the crop in and give it a good start.”

He says some corn has already been planted.

“I was actually in some fields that had corn sprouting out of the ground, planted two weeks ago,” he says. “There’s some half-inch sprouts and especially if there’s heat coming, it will keep coming out of the ground quickly.”

Swenson says corn acres have increased from South Dakota all the way to the Canadian border this year and farmers are pushing to get it planted.

“The further north you go, there are many places that haven’t turned a wheel yet. We’ve got the whole corn and soybean crop to plant, but with big planters, we can cover the ground fast. By the time we get to May 15, we should be sitting good for most everyone across the region.”

He says early season rains should help if conditions get drier throughout the growing season.