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Planting pace a rare bright spot for Minnesota farmers

A Minnesota farmer says the rapid pace of planting has been the glimmer of positivity agriculture needs right now.

Brian Thalmann of Plato tells Brownfield all his corn was planted in April and he finished soybeans in early May.

“And that is very typical of the area here in south-central Minnesota. That’s been the one bright spot as we look to agriculture, we’ve got good planting conditions.”

Thalmann sees the potential for a bumper crop, which he says would be both good and bad.

“As a producer, we want to do what we can to produce the most bushels. But if we’re looking at huge production this year, we’re planting a crop that has projections on the corn side a stocks-to-use ratio that would be the highest in the last 33 years. That’s scary.”

Thalmann is immediate past president of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association.