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Cool weather slows South Dakota fieldwork

Many South Dakota farmers are waiting on Mother Nature before heading to the fields.

Reno Brueggeman raises crops in central South Dakota east of the Missouri River near Miller.  He tells Brownfield there is very little fieldwork getting done now. “There’s a little bit of wheat going in around the area, but that’s about it.”

Brueggman is optimistic he can begin planting corn and soybeans around the first of May. “It’s going to be a little while before we get to the field around here, especially with the temperatures they’re talking about in the next ten days, I mean our ground temperature I’m sure is in that low-30 range yet.”

Brueggman says he has received recent rain and he did have a major rain event last fall so soil moisture is not bad, but he says stock dams are not holding much water which might make it tough on cattle producers.