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Holte says fewer planted acres and lower yields expected in many areas

Wisconsin’s Farm Bureau President says he and several of his neighbors have a lot of unplanted acres this year. Jim Holte says, “I and many of my neighbors probably have fifteen or twenty percent of our ground not planted, and that is not an isolated situation. As I talked to Farm Bureau members in other states, they have similar or worse situations.”

Holte farms near Elk Mound in northwestern Wisconsin, and tells Brownfield he expects fewer bushels this year because of weather and less planted acres. 

And, Holte tells Brownfield he doesn’t think the corn crop condition and potentially lower yield has been reflected in the markets yet. “We well know that when you plant when it’s way too wet, there are consequences in the end, so I think there’s potential for some price improvement to happen.”

Holte says with potential feed shortages, ethanol producers might struggle to find what they need. “We have a certain amount of corn in Wisconsin that has to go to livestock. Normally, they would have some excess that might go to a place like an ethanol plant. It’s very possible this year there will be no (grain sale) access for those livestock farmers so the potential I think is there.”

Holte spoke to Brownfield during Wisconsin Farm Technology Days.