News

2 weeks all Minnesota farmer needed for #plant17

A southwest Minnesota farmer needed less than two weeks to complete planting.

Paul Lanoue of Marshall says all 2,500 acres of his corn, soybeans, and alfalfa went in during the first half of May.

“We had some nice weather in April and it sure was tempting to get out and do some planting before the snow came (at the end of April).  Looking at the weather forecast, our family chose not to plant before we had the snow.  (we) anticipated it would be cold and wet for those seeds.”

He tells Brownfield once the weather improved, they pushed it hard to get done.

“We were able to get it warmed up, and the conditions were ideal for us here.  We didn’t have quite as much moisture as some other areas, so we were able to get into fields in a timely manner, choosing the fields that were the most ready for planting and got them all planted.”

The USDA says nearly half of Minnesota’s total corn acreage and more than 40 percent of intended soybean acres were planted last week.