Corn Planting Proving to Be A Challenge for Some Areas

Speaking from the cab of his tractor, Karson Duncanson of KD2 Farms in South Central Minnesota near the town of Mapleton says this year's corn planting season has been challenging

"The first week of May, some corn went in April. But then a lot of corn went in that first week of May. And like I said, it was perfect conditions just absolutely beautiful planting conditions. But then we got in our specific region that it was very spotty within about a 40-mile radius of us that 10 plus inches of rain- some got that in a couple of events, we got it in about three to four events in that 10-day period, and just heavy saturated soils that was just too much for the corn."

Duncanson says he is replanting about 10% of his 1200-acre corn crop with some of his neighbors replanting up to 50%. Although he has not had to change his corn varieties. There are some different varieties that he is using now for replanting.

"We got everything in all our plant varieties and now we're just kind of splicing in a little bit later hybrids because that's what they had earlier hybrids Excuse me."

Additionally, Duncanson says the availability of corn seed is another challenge. farmers in the area report that moisture and health conditions have not been this challenging since 1981. On a positive note, he says overall the corn that is emerged is looking good.