A southwestern Wisconsin farmer says when it comes to moisture, 2023 and 2024 are opposite extremes.

Mike Berget says, “This time last year, we were wondering if we were even going to have a crop, and now this year, we’re wondering if it’s going to float away.”

Berget raises corn and soybeans near Darlington and tells Brownfield most farmers in his area were able to plant in the rolling hills, and most crops look good. “The early corn that was planted in April when it was dry is doing real well. Some of the corn planted at the end of May or middle of May is stuggling, but with heat in the last week, it’s really come around.”

Berget says he’s fortunate, as a lot of farmers couldn’t finish planting. “When we had our corn growers meeting a week ago, there’s a lot of farmers up north that haven’t hardly planted a kernel and they don’t know, I mean, most of them have went in and filed for prevent plant.”

Berget says some farms in his area are 15 inches above normal rainfall now, and they were 12 inches below normal at this time last year.  Berget says he and many neighbors have lost some corn in low-lying areas because of the heavy rains, but it’s a small percentage compared to what a drought takes away.

Source - https://www.brownfieldagnews.com