Eastern South Dakota farmer finishes planting ahead of schedule – Brownfield Ag News

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Eastern South Dakota farmer finishes planting ahead of schedule

A farmer in eastern South Dakota says the growing season is off to a good start on his farm now that the corn and soybeans have been planted.

Scott VanderWal, who farms in Brookings County, tells Brownfield “We had a small delay right around the May 1 where we got a couple inches of rain. That was really welcome, and then we went the rest of the way and got it all planted. I think for the most part, most farmers are about done around here, which is fairly early.”

VanderWal says some of the corn is up and soybeans are starting to poke up out of the soil.

In its latest crop progress report, USDA says South Dakota’s corn is 81 percent planted, a 28-point jump from the previous week, with 22 percent of the crop emerged. Fifty-nine percent of the state’s soybeans are planted, a 25-point jump from the previous week with 10 percent of the crop emerged.

VanderWal says rain is needed to help the crops, because it’s been dry in South Dakota. He says while much of the state received rain over the weekend, it skipped the Brookings area, and he’s optimistic some will find the farm this week.

“Sure would love to have an inch of rain or two.”

Temperatures are also expected to dip down to the mid-to-upper 30 degrees this week in parts of South Dakota, but VanderWal says he’s not too worried. 

Hear Brownfield’s interview with VanderWal.