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Weather causing weak emergence in Michigan’s Thumb

A Thumb-area farmer says cool, windy weather has been challenging for crop emergence.

Matt Frostic tells Brownfield, “We’ve had phenomenal windy days.”

“We’ve seen some wind damage in the sugar beet crop, it’s put some stress on the beans and corn too,” he shares. “This corn crop doesn’t look like it could handle a herbicide right now.”

He says most planting is complete, but conditions to seed dry beans aren’t ideal.

“They like 80° weather, they don’t like 50° nights, and we’re not getting either one right now,” he says. “The temperatures don’t seem to be consistently there in the forecast either.”

Frostic says he’s also keeping an eye on whether wildfire smoke from Canada will lead to any stunted crops.

Frostic farms 1,000 acres of corn, soybeans, dry beans, and sugarbeets in Michigan’s Thumb as well as raises beef cattle.