Farmers usually don’t grumble about too much moisture, but the persistent cycle of wet weather this month has made it difficult for farmers to get into the fields to spray crops and begin haying.

Despite the wet conditions, cool-season crops such as wheat and canola in the region are looking good at this stage, but corn, sunflower and soybeans are lagging a bit behind, a result of the cool weather.

“Those need more heat units, and if we get a good stretch of warmer weather, it won’t take much for them to catch up, especially since they have the moisture,’ said Carter Medalen, agronomist with the Farmers Union Agronomy Center.

The next few weeks will be critical to the crop development in the region as farmers need to apply chemical to combat disease and also need dry weather to see late season crops take off.

-Staff report