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Soil conditions lead fieldwork plans

A central Michigan farmer says cold soils have slowed most fieldwork.

Carson City’s Ben Wilson tells Brownfield he’s been able to make fertilizer and herbicide applications, but planting has been limited to just sugarbeets.

“Every time the calendar is April you still are like, ‘Hey, it’s early, it’s early,’ and next week will be May, and then we’ll be super nervous about getting the crop in,” he shares.

Also an agronomist for Helena, Wilson says last year’s planting season serves as a reminder of how much soil conditions drive success rather than the calendar.

“A lot of planting went in late in May and even early June,” he says.  “Some of those mid-to-late planted fields that went into a good seed bed, they had warmth, they got off to a great start and were some of our best yields.”

Wilson Centennial Farms raises corn, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa, and sugarbeets along with milking 1,000 cows.