Wet fields hinder completion of Minnesota harvest
Published 10:31 am Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Wet fields have hampered Minnesota farmers’ efforts to finish the harvest.
In its weekly crop weather report for the state, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says producers harvested only 5 percent of the corn crop and 10 percent of the sunflower crop this past week.
Rain in the past few weeks has left water standing in fields, especially in the northwest. There were an average of just 2.3 days suitable for fieldwork last week.
As of Sunday, 80 percent of the corn crop was harvested, compared with 98 percent last year and a 96 percent five-year average. The sunflower harvest reached 80 percent complete, compared with 99 percent last year and a 93 percent average.