News

Michigan warm-up brought on early development

Unseasonably warm temperatures last week kicked off fieldwork and planting in some drier areas of Michigan.

Executive director of the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board Jamie Clover Adams tells Brownfield shoots started to form in the south but the current cooldown put a stop to any chances for an early harvest.

“On Monday—it is snowing on the west side of the state so I think most of them are saying traditional start to the season,” she shares.

Clover Adams says damaged plants will be ignored when harvest gets underway in a few weeks.

“They don’t spend the time or the energy to take those off given how much harvest labor costs,” she says.

As of Sunday, the USDA says winter wheat condition gained 10 points on the week to 69 percent good to excellent, and six percent is now jointed.

Sugarbeets are 39 percent planted while oats are at five percent, barley is at two percent and soybeans are at one percent.

While most fruit was reported dormant or in early development stages, peaches and blueberries in the south were the furthest along.