Farmers are busy preparing for the 2018 planting season. Temperatures in the 50s and 60s in the seven-day forecast will help melt snow cover and thaw frozen ground. Winfield United agronomist Jason Hanson says seed deliveries have been going out. “On Thursday, I talked to a co-worker who said there was wheat put in by Minto, North Dakota. Some fertilizer is being put on sugarbeet fields in the Northern Valley. However, most people I’ve talked to are just watching the snow melt.”
If conditions are right, Hanson thinks most farmers in northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota will be in the field by the end of April/early May. However, logistics will be a big factor. “Many parts of the Midwest have gotten moisture in the form of rain or snow. A lot of this spring season is going to get condensed now and everything is going to get done at the same time.”