With overcast weather conditions continuing into the month of May, Wisconsin farmers are likely hard pressed to remember a period of time with plentiful sunshine. As a result, soil conditions show little improvement and there has been a limited amount of time for farmers to get into the field.
According to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, there were only 2.6 days of suitable fieldwork weather for the week ending on May 5th. In many parts of the state, cold soil has tampered with any sort of crop emergence and most fields are still too wet to access. Moreover, it’s been noted around the state that winterkill is becoming evident in alphalpha, especially in low areas where water ponded and froze.
Certain crops such as corn, are experiencing below average planting throughout Wisconsin due to the weather. On May 5th, corn crops were only 7 percent planted; 4 days behind 2018 and 8 days behind the average. Potato planting, on the other hand, has been able to overcome the sub-par conditions and is 46 percent complete as of May 5th. That is 11 days ahead of the average.
Overall, spring tillage was marked as being 29 percent complete on the May 5th report- that is 1 day ahead of last year but 6 days behind the 5 year average.
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