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Drought not a big worry across much of Upper Midwest

The lead agronomist for North Dakota-based Peterson Farms Seed says drought is not a big concern in the Upper Midwest.

Rick Swenson tells Brownfield while 2020 was on the dry side, abundant moisture the previous three years made a lasting impact.

“We were so wet coming off the fall of ’17, and all of ’18, and record precipitation across the Dakotas and Minnesota in ’19. It was such a wet, wet year that a lot of areas were still 50 percent (prevent plant) again this year just because it was that wet.”

However, he says by late summer drought-like conditions were creeping up into central South Dakota through northwest North Dakota.

“We still got good yields, and looking into 2021 it is very dry across the western part of the U.S. But a lot of our geography gets so wet so fast I hate to get too excited about it right now.”

In fact, Swenson says he’d prefer it stay dry through the spring so farmers can plant in a timely fashion.