Last Week's Wild Weather Pushed Back Fieldwork for Farmers
Tuesday, April 28th, 2015 -- 8:14 AM
(Wisconsin Ag Connection) -Snow, rain, hail, and just plain cold conditions have pushed back fieldwork progress on many Wisconsin farms during the past week.The state's agriculture department noted in this week's crop/weather summary that freezing nights and a lack of snow cover could jeopardize winter wheat and alfalfa stands in some areas. Topsoil moistures fell slightly in spite of the precipitation received, ending the week with two percent very short, 20 percent short, 68 percent adequate and 10 percent surplus.
As of Sunday, spring tillage was 31 percent complete statewide, 16 days ahead of last year and four days ahead of the five-year average. Corn planted was five percent complete, which is a week and a half ahead of last year, but slightly behind average.
Oats planted was just under half complete, while 10 percent of the potatoes are now in the ground. Winter wheat also improved, from 65 percent in good to excellent condition statewide last week to 67 percent this week, though several reporters did note isolated winter kill.
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