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More rain needed to finish crops

A farmer says more rain would help his crops.

Chuck Prellwitz has always had a crop in his 53 years of farming near Ripon, Wisconsin, but he says this year won’t set any records. “I think our bushel weight might be light and kernel depth kind of light if we don’t get some more rain here sometime. Beans, I’m concerned about. They look excellent, big tall beans, pods are not filled, the little ones on top are aborting, so I would say an average crop at best in beans.”

Prellwitz says some of the corn is starting to dent, so he’s expecting smaller kernels on bigger ears. “Ear size is bigger than normal, 16 to 18, once in a while 20 rows and anywhere from 35-40 kernels in a row, which is a lot, as normally I’m at 30 to 35.”

Prellwitz says this has been a good year for his fresh market sweet corn, and his son’s winery is just starting to receive grapes from around the state ahead of harvesting their own five-acre vineyard.

Prellwitz tells Brownfield he’s retiring after this crop, and the neighbors have already rented all of his land for 2024.