Planting season off to a late start

ST. PETER, Minn. (KEYC) - After a late spring and days of severe weather, Gov. Tim Walz has issued an executive order authorizing temporary relief for motor carriers and drivers for the spring crop in Minnesota.

Despite the last couple of days, southern Minnesota farms have not seen the same amount of damage as other areas of the state.

“I have not seen any potholes around here of standing water, so that means that the ground is absorbing it all,” said Tim Enz of Triple E Farms. “For the plants, the corn to get started giving it a good start.”

Minnesota has over 65,000 farms and 26 million acres of farmland. At Triple E Farms near St. Peter, there are 66 acres of planted corn, 50 acres of alfalfa and 40 acres of soybean.

Farming has been in the Enz family for generations.

“My grandpa started farming here, then my dad took over and now I am taking over for my dad. Then I got my two boys involved, my brother is involved in it too, so it is multiple generations here,” Enz said.

One of the concerns with the late spring is the late planting. The deadline for planting corn is May 31, with the deadline for beans following on June 10.

Enz completed planting his corn Thursday, May 12.

“Here in Minnesota, a few years ago, more so in central and northern Minnesota, we had a lot of acres that were unable to go into the planned crops,” Executive director of Southern Agricultural center of excellence Megan Roberts said.

The question remains for farmers with the late planting season and the strong storms: how the yields will turn out come harvest time and how early the frost will come.

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