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Prioritizing soybean harvest ahead of the rain

A farmer in central South Dakota says he’s trying to harvest soybeans and plant winter wheat ahead of the weekend rains.

Chet Edinger says it’s been a dry year and while the rain is needed, it can be problematic when there’s already low-moisture soybeans in the field.

“The crop absorbs the moisture and then, when they dry out again the pods pop and we’ll lose beans on the ground. That’s the frustrating part for us right now is that all of a sudden, we went from wet to too dry and now we have rain in the forecast. We need the rain, but we have to get the soybeans out as quickly as possible.”

He says sunflower harvest is happening at the same time and there are enough harvested acres to plant some winter wheat.

“The rain in the forecast may be bad in the soybeans, but it’s good for the wheat. It’s super dry and we need moisture for the wheat to germinate.”

Edinger says corn harvest is on hold as progress is made on the other crops.

Photo credit: Chet Edinger