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Some farmers are replanting drought damaged fields

A crop insurance agent says some farmers have given up on their 2023 corn. 

Andrew Schulenburg with Compeer Financial handles crop insurance and risk management for farmers.  He tells Brownfield the extremely dry conditions in some areas have forced farmers to make tough decisions. “As far as the corn crop, some of the stuff with poor germination, guys are thinking of tearing it out and putting like a sudan grass to get some sort of forage. Other than that, a lot of the big grain guys, all they can do is sit on it.”

Schulenburg says several parts of Wisconsin have had a recent rain that greened things up, but for some, it’s too little and too late. “Some of them had trouble germinating early with no moisture, but we’re talking to guys that are going out there and that seed is actually still in the ground. There’s no moisture where it can even rot, so realistically, that seed is still sitting there. It might come up, and it might not.”

And for the farmers that want to plant something now, get in touch with the crop insurance agent first. “Because if you tear that up before the adjuster looks at it, it’s going to be tough to get that claim paid.”