From the Fields: Plan to wrap up planting by Memorial Day

Believe it or not, early March was seasonably warmer than it is now and field conditions were more ideal, so we interseeded alfalfa and orchardgrass by broadcasting it over the top of the wheat fields with an electric-powered Cyclone seeder bolted to the weight bracket of the tractor.

Fast forward to mid-April, I sewed a couple bags of grass seeds into a full skid of bagged black-dirt topsoil and scratched it in where I buried our Traverse telehandler up to the frame near a set of grain bins and our new grain dryer on a nicely manicured residential property. We finally caught a couple days of sun and drier conditions to see a couple fields of grass and oats on May 4, before the rain chased us out of the field once again.

At this time last year, I was in the midst of cleaning up all of my tillage equipment and my planter, too. But last year was an exceptional year as I had finished planting before May 1.

They say history repeats itself, and I recall the spring of 1996, when it rained almost every day, if not each day, for a month straight. I hope to be finished with corn planting and the first cutting of hay by Memorial Day. I’m praying we have everything planted by the end of May, but it sure doesn’t look promising. The cover crops and wheat crop looks fantastic, despite the challenges of the daily freeze and frost watches.