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Rain slowing soybean harvest for Wisconsin farmer

A Wisconsin farmer says weather is dictating harvest activity for him and his neighbors.

Chuck Prellwitz says, “Rain has been slowing the bean harvest down. Corn is just getting started.”

Prellwitz farms in the Ripon, Wisconsin area. He tells Brownfield with Monday’s rain and a wet forecast, he’s changing combine heads to harvest corn, not knowing when he can get back to his remaining soybeans.

Prellwitz has combined about 500 acres of soybeans and is pleasantly surprised by yields so far. “I was hoping to see 50 bushel and we had a couple of fields that averaged well into the 60s. I had one field I did for a neighbor that did 70, so yeah, they’re better than we were expecting.”

And he says the bean sizes are better than he expected.

As far as corn, Prellwitz says many area fields are opened up but not done, telling him moisture levels are high, but that’s not stopping deliveries to the elevator where the dryers are running. “I talked to the elevator this morning and they said anywheres from 21 to 27 (percent moisture) yesterday, but they got fifty loads in yesterday, they said.”

Prellwitz is planning to combine corn until his remaining soybeans dry out.  He says the soil is rapidly soaking up the rain, and he’s had no problems with getting harvesting equipment into the fields.