News

South Dakota farmer gladly dodges raindrops to finish planting

A South Dakota farmer doesn’t mind the early and late opportunities to plant while dodging much-needed rain.

Dave Ellens farms between Wentworth and Madison in southeastern South Dakota and says planting progress has been good. “We got done with corn last week and we just started on beans here pretty heavy and we did get slowed down by some rain here but the rain was pretty welcome for how dry we were.”

Ellens tells Brownfield it has been dry since last summer, and he planted corn last week a little deeper to find some moisture but the roughly ¾ of an inch of rain over the weekend really raised everyone’s spirits.  “I tell you what, once the rain showed up, all of the growers and farmers around here, their outlook was a little bit better, too. I think everyone got a little bit in a better mood once that rain showed up.”

Ellens says planting around the weather has led to some very early and very late days, but he doesn’t mind. “We got a nice rain on Saturday and now we’re waiting for it to dry out to get going again before the rain shows up again on Thursday, so that’s the one thing about rain. It slows you down a little bit so, those hours you get to get back in the field, you’ve just got to take them.”

Ellens says in Lake County, he estimates farmers are about 75% done with corn planting and farmers are getting a good start on soybeans now.