High Soil Moisture Delays Minn. Farm Fieldwork

Getty Images

ST. PAUL (AP) – The high soil moisture that’s contributing to flooding across Minnesota is keeping farmers from getting started on fieldwork.

In its weekly crop-weather report for Minnesota, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says the soil is still too wet for fieldwork in some areas, and more warm, dry weather is needed to melt the remaining frost, increase soil temperatures, and dry out soils before fieldwork can begin.

The report says producers anticipate full-scale fieldwork beginning on April 25. That’s four days behind the five-year average.

Topsoil moisture supplies are rated 46 percent adequate and 54 percent surplus, compared with 35 percent adequate and 65 percent surplus a week earlier. One percent of the land has been prepared for corn and soybean planting. That’s behind last year but close to the average pace.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)