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All-hands-on-deck as Minnesota farmers brace for winter storm

It’s been all-hands-on-deck for many Minnesota farmers racing to get fieldwork done ahead of a storm system bringing snow to parts of the Upper Midwest.

 

Karen Johnson, University of Minnesota Extension education director for McLeod and Meeker Counties west of the Twin Cities, says harvest in her area has been anything but smooth.

“A colleague and I were out (Thursday) afternoon and it was kind of mixed reviews in this area, whether (farmers) were trying to get as much corn out as they could.  Or doing the last bit on soybeans.  Or waiting to see what the storm did, because we’re still seeing anywhere from 20 to 22 percent moisture on corn.”

Farmers worked well into the night harvesting corn and soybeans as well as tilling fields and applying manure.

With an inch or two of snow predicted for the region, Johnson reminds farmers to be careful upon returning to work.

“This kind of stop-and-go progress we’ve been having, it makes us start thinking we need to start hurrying through harvest.  And that’s when mistakes happen.”

Brownfield interviewed Johnson during the KDUZ Farm City Day breakfast at the McLeod County fairgrounds in Hutchinson Friday.