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Wintry weather is keeping farmers in the shop

The early April weather is keeping most Wisconsin farmers out of the fields.  This week’s storm system brought slushy, wet snow from an inch deep in southeastern Wisconsin to more than nine inches in a line from Shawano to Fond du Lac.

Mark Hoffmann farms near Whitewater, west of Milwaukee.  He tells Brownfield the fields went from bare to white quickly. “From noon to about two-o-clock, we had half an inch of rain so it was coming down pretty good. Then when it changed to snow, it just turned white.”

Even though it’s snow, Hoffmann says the moisture is welcome since soils are still dry from last year’s drought. “The ditches and the rivers are running full today. It’s helping, but it’s a good thing it’s a month before we’ve got to really be in the field to plant corn.”

With no frost, he’s hoping much of the moisture soaks in instead of running off.

Hoffmann says the bad weather allows him to get prices for some additional nitrogen.  He expects to begin planting his 50-50 corn and soybean rotation around April 27th.