Heavy rain plagues crops

Sleepy Eye area

receives 3 1/2 to

5 inches of rain

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Heavy rainfall late Sunday night and early Monday morning is moving area crop development further behind schedule.

Water ponding put a sizeable amount of corn and soybean fields under water Monday morning. By noon, some of the field ponding was subsiding.

Rainfall in Brown County was heaviest in the Sleepy Eye area where 3 1/2 to 5 inches of rain was reported.

How well crops survive will depend on how long the field flooding lasts and how warm it gets, according to Brown County Extension Educator Wayne Schoper.

"We're a good week behind on crop development," Schoper said. "Quite a few places are under water. We usually have our first crop of alfalfa in and hay has been cut by now."

Six townships in south central part of Nicollet County experienced slight hail damage. One to 4 inches of rain and peripheral damage was reported.

Most townships have standing water. Countywide, 5,000 acres of corn and soybeans are under water.

"If it stands under water for two days or more, it will smother crops and they won't produce," Nicollet County Extension Educator Gary Hachfeld said. "Weeds grow whether it's wet or dry, so that's another challenge."

Some farmers had hay down when it rained, diminishing quality. Some hay was flattened, which will require more time and money to harvest when it is cut."

Other farmers still need to spray their fields. Silting was reported in some areas, particularly soybean fields.

Rainfall was a little lighter in Sibley County with 1 to 3 1/4 inches reported.

Pea planting was not completed for most farmers before the storm. Lots of sweet corn planting remains to be done.

"We've got lots of dirty fields," Sibley County Extension Educator Tim Dolan said. "The faster the tiles work, the better."

Cool weather was forecast for Tuesday with highs in the mid 60s. Warmer weather will follow with highs in the mid 70s Wednesday, lower 80s Thursday, Friday and Saturday. A chance of showers and thunderstorms was forecast for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Meanwhile, crop development improved last week thanks to sunny, warm weather that allowed producers to assess their fields for replanting, the Minnesota Agricultural Statistics Service said Monday.

In its weekly crop weather report, the agency said the statewide average temperature was 5.9 degrees above normal last week.

Corn recently planted is coming up in five days, in contrast with corn planted earlier in the season which has finally emerged after four or five weeks in the ground.

Producers, who waited through weeks of cold temperatures, now have a basis for deciding whether replanting is necessary. Rotary hoeing has been used to loosen crusted soils, but this has sometimes been ineffective. Many find they just need to reseed areas of poor corn emergence, rather than entire fields. Others have switched to soybeans when replanting.

Rainfall was spotty during the week. Some areas received large amounts of rain while neighboring areas receiving little or none.

Statewide topsoil moisture conditions as of Friday were rated 2 percent very short, 23 percent short, 72 percent adequate, and 3 percent surplus.

An estimated 95 percent of soybean acreage has been planted as of Sunday. On the same date a year ago, 71 percent had been planted; the five-year average is 88 percent. Corn is 84 percent emerged versus 89 percent for the five-year average.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Small grain progress has caught up to recent years. Oats are 99 percent planted and 87 percent emerged; the five-year averages are 95 percent planted and 91 percent emerged. Spring wheat is 98 percent planted compared with 82 percent a year ago and 92 percent for the five-year average. Barley is 98 percent planted versus 91 percent for the five-year average.

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On the Net:

Minnesota Agricultural Statistics Service: http://www.nass.usda.gov/mn

AP-DS-06-03-02 1737EDT