Story originally printed in the Vernon Broadcaster or online at www.vernonbroadcaster.com
Published - Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Corn and soybean planting is ahead of schedule in state
Corn and soybean planting in Wisconsin is ahead of normal after two weeks of good weather.
In fact, 89 percent of the state’s corn crop has been planted, the highest percentage since records began in 1980, the National Agricultural Statistics Service’s Wisconsin field office said Monday in its weekly crop report. That compares with 81 percent at this time a year ago and a five-year average of 72 percent.
The agency said 61 percent of Wisconsin’s soybean crop has been planted, compared with 44 percent a year ago and a five-year average of 37 percent.
“I’d say better than 80 percent of the corn is in” in La Crosse County, said Steve Huntzicker, the county’s University of Wisconsin Extension agriculture agent. He estimated at least 40 percent of La Crosse County’s soybean crop has been planted.
“People were worried initially (because of cool, wet weather) that we might be falling behind,” Huntzicker said. “But we’ve had a couple pretty good weeks of planting.”
Tim Rehbein, UW Extension agriculture agent in Vernon County, estimated 90 percent to 95 percent of that county’s corn crop has been planted. He guessed 40 percent of the county’s soybean crop is in the ground.
Huntzicker also said some cases of alfalfa weevils have been reported in La Crosse County, while Rehbein said he has not heard of any in Vernon County.
“In high enough populations, they can really decrease the yield and quality of the alfalfa stand,” Rehbein said of the weevils.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service said the first cutting of alfalfa began last week in some areas, and there was concern about weevil damage in central and southern counties.
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