Spring wheat planting is well behind normal in South Dakota with the recent bomb cyclones that hit the region. USDA’s crop progress report indicated farmers in the state had only planted 1-percent of the crop, compared to the five-year average of 30-percent. South Dakota Wheat Commission Executive Director Reid Christopherson says the fields that aren’t still covered with snow have been too wet to even work, let alone plant.
The weather forecast doesn’t look promising and he says the planting window and crop insurance cutoff date is quickly closing, running from May 5 in the southeast to May 15 in the northeast. Seeding spring wheat after the optimum date will decrease yield.
Christopherson says if farmers end up switching to another crop like corn that will substantially decrease acreage in the state, which is already at historically low levels.
North Dakota and Minnesota have not turned a wheel either, compared to the average planting pace for spring wheat of 5-percent and 11-percent respectively.
