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Michigan corn and soybean planting behind average as wet weather slows progress

A southeast Michigan farmer says Monday was his first day of planting.

Lenawee County’s Zach Schaffner tells Brownfield, “We’ve had just a ton of rainy weather.”

“It’s been hard to even think about getting out there, but we’ve got some sandier ground that we’re going to try today, and fingers crossed, we’re going to be able to get out there and get some beans planted,” he shares.

The USDA says 17 percent of corn, 12  percent of soybeans, and 75 percent of sugarbeet crops in Michigan were planted as of Sunday, all behind the five-year average.

“We definitely are later than we typically would be,” he says.

Michigan wheat is rated 63 percent good to excellent.

Moisture levels are continuing to subside, with 18 percent of topsoil and 21 percent of subsoil in surplus across the state.

Schaffner grows soybeans, corn, alfalfa, and wheat in Hudson with three generations of his family.