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Minnesota farmer toys with adding small grains to corn/soy rotation

A southwest Minnesota corn and soybean grower came close to expanding his rotation this year.

Chris Hill of Brewster says he likes the idea of adding a small grain.

“But for the most part we’re sticking with our same corn and soybean rotation.”

He tells Brownfield there could be some opportunities with spring wheat.

“We’re also looking at harvesting all of the straw for some livestock producers in the area, and we have some guys out here who are looking to early apply liquid manure. And that would be a great benefit for them (as well).”

Corn and soybean prices are as strong as they’ve been in several years, but Hill says that’s not the reason he won’t be planting spring wheat in 2021.

“It was more or less (us) not really planning for it. We toyed with the idea a few years back, but that’s when everything went south on us. But we made the best out of a bad situation and kept moving forward.”

Hill says the rally in grain prices means higher crop insurance guarantees, making for a better safety net going into the growing season.