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Wisconsin farmer expects good, not great harvest

A western Wisconsin farmer is expecting a good harvest, but not a record-breaker.

James Giese tells Brownfield, “I’ll just have a little bit bigger drying bill than normal and maybe a little lighter test weight corn.”

Giese says 2024 has been a challenging year for crop production, starting with planting during the wet spring. “When it quit raining, there was a lot of sleepless nights for sure where we were out in the tractor until the wee hours of the morning or basicly, until something broke and we had to fix it the next day, but for how the year started out and our struggle on side dressing our crops with urea, things are looking pretty good in my area.”

Giese says he’s fortunate to have no disease issues with the cool and wet summer. “I think the sandyness of the soils in our area definitely helped us. We definitely need more heat units. We have not had a very warm summer here, but all in all, I think we’re going to have an okay crop.”

Giese grows cash crops and feed for his dairy near Alma Center, Wisconsin.

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