Harvests down, but optimism reigns

"Everything associated with farming this year was a fight, but I also see optimism among the farmers for next year," said Scott Dubbelde, the General Manager of Farmer's Cooperative Elevator that serves the area.

Although it's impossible to predict what a future planting or growing season will be like, farmers in southern Minnesota are at least enjoying a better start to next season. And they certainly couldn't say that last fall.

"It's much easier to get into the fields to harvest and till than it was last year," said one local farmer requesting anonymity. "It wasn't anything but wet and mud last year. Although the year was hard on all of us, it is easier knowing we are ahead of where we were a year ago."

Corn and bean harvests are obviously down from the average harvests. And because of wet fields in 2019, many farmers were forced to turn to prevented planting in order to get as much as they could squeeze out of the mud-riddled fields.

Prevented planning is the failure to plant an insured crop with the proper equipment by the final planting date or during the late planting period.

To qualify, farmers must be prevented from planting by an insured cause of loss that is general to the surrounding area and that prevents other producers from planting acreage with similar characteristics.

Many farmers also turned to cover crops for protection and enrichment of the soil in their respective fields.

"We had 60 inches or rain over the past two years," Rick Bot, who farms outside of Minneota. "We had 32 inches this year. Normally, we get around 20-22 inches, that makes it tough for everyone to get into the fields."

Farmers plant cover crops such as radishes, turnips, oats, sorghum and more to prevent the soil from compacting too much. "You can chop or bail the oats or sorghum and use it for feed or bedding for livestock," Bot explained. "The radishes and turnips I just leave."

The radishes and turnips left in the ground assist in reducing compaction. Roots are unable to penetrate compacted layers of soil, which limits the plants' access to moisture and nutrients. So if farmers are unable to plant corn and beans in time due to wet fields, rather than leave fields bare, they will plant cover crops to help in limiting compaction caused by equipment and/or grazing.

"Soil compaction is very important to farmers," said one farmer near St. Leo.

"But instead of planting cover crops, some farmers try to till deeper instead. "All that does, though, is make the soil more susceptible to breakdown or erosion. And it costs more in terms of labor, use of equipment, fuel and other things."

This year's sugar beet harvest is the worst it has been in decades as rain and snow kept farmers out of fields until the crop had been damaged by frost, records indicate.

Dubbelde said the last time he saw a year like this was in 2009. That was also a wet and tough harvest," he said.

"And 1993 was a cold, wet year. But I don't remember this many acres not getting planted like we have seen this year."

There was very little tillage in the fields last fall. A lot of farmers had to till in the spring, and combated with the wetness, they weren't able to till until late spring. So right away, they were way behind schedule."

Bot was able to get 400 acres of corn planted.

"I’m expecting 160-170 bushels on the average per acre," he said. "The average has been around 190. Once I had over 220. But I'm better off than preventive planting."

Drying and storing the harvest has also been a big problem for farmers this fall.

The wetter the crop, the bigger the price deduction. "I've bought a lot of propane this fall," Bot said. "Usually I buy two or three fillings. This year I will be around five or six."

Storing wet grain in elevators also reduces the farmers' selling cost. "I don't have the room to store my harvest at my farm," said one farmer. "So I have to take it in and store it at the co-op. But everything is so wet, so I'm losing a lot of money. But what choice do I have?"

Farmers can't do anything about the temperature, wind, or rain. They have little choice but to keep forging ahead.

"Farmers are salt of the earth people. They feed us and the world and we want them to do well," said Dubbelde. "They are hard workers. But they have had to fight all year and they are worn out."

But farmers are also eternal optimists, Dubbelde notes. "Farmers are going to be glad to see Dec. 31 on the calendar," he said.

"They are looking forward to a fresh start and more in the spring and summer for 2020."