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Rains a challenge for SE Minnesota farmer

A southeast Minnesota farmer says persistent rains made this spring challenging.

Ben Daley of Lewiston tells Brownfield corn planting was slowed by saturated soils.

“We planted quite a few of our corn acres before a wet spell, then obviously planted a lot after.  And there was a lot of yellow corn out there.  I saw a lot of the yellow corn, (and) not just in our (fields).”

He says a three week stretch of dry weather helped turn the corn crop around.

The wet conditions in April and May also pushed the first cutting of alfalfa off schedule.

“We were probably a week to a week and-a-half behind of when we truly wanted to cut it, but the wet weather really prohibited us from getting that done.  So yeah, it’s been challenging.”

Weather permitting, Daley expects to begin his second cutting this weekend.