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Recent rains put southeast South Dakota harvest on hold

A farmer in southeast South Dakota says the recent rains have harvest on hold.

“We started with sunflower harvest about two weeks ago, and harvest has been on hold the last 10 days or so,” says Chet Edinger, who farms in Davison, Aurora and Sanborn Counties.

He says it’s been a wet fall, but its worse for neighboring counties and states. There are concerns about pod shatter in the soybeans in those areas.

“Between Alexandria and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, along I-90, they were really short on moisture. The crop finally gave up and started to mature,” he says. “were “There are no field vacuums out there.”

He says the soybeans on his farm are still drying down, and he’s not concerned. Edinger says sunflower harvest will be prioritized ahead of soybeans, once the fields dry up.

The USDA doesn’t show any sunflower harvest progress in South Dakota yet, but soybean and corn harvest are eight percent complete in the state, both behind the average.