The Red River Farm Network Crop Tour, presented by Pioneer, is now in its third year. The 2020 tour began the day north of Carrington, North Dakota with RRFN farm broadcasters Megan Overby and Carah Hart.
At Swanson Seeds, sales associate Doug Retzlaff says the season started very wet, resulting in a significant number of prevented plant acres in the Carrington area. “Despite being so wet in March and April, it got dry in June,” said Retzlaff. “There were timely rains in July and it got dry here in August again.” View the interview with Retzlaff online.
The RRFN tour moved onto Wells County and Allmaras Ag at Bremen, North Dakota. Donny Allmaras says the corn looks quite good. The crop is tracking 140 Growing Degree Units ahead of the five-year average. Goss’s Wilt has been seen in the area. “It’s just spotty in certain fields. You can find some around the outside perimeter of the field with almost every variety” After a very difficult season in 2019, Allmaras is optimistic for this harvest. “Guys are really going to want to harvest some nice corn this year—in 2020, not 2021.” Watch the Allmaras interview on RRFN’s Facebook page.
Moving onto the Fessenden area, Leon Klocke says the local crop started out with very wet conditions. “We had seven-to-nine inches last fall and the notorious 30 inches of wet snow on top of that. We planted this field on the 25th of May and we’ve had seven and three-quarters of an inch of rain on it.” The crop is about 100 GDUs ahead the long-term average and 200 GDUs ahead of last year. “The kernels are big and full; the early corn is starting to dent. It is looking fun.” Klocke was in a field with 105-day silage corn August 22. “That silage corn is already starting to dent so our forage guys better start walking fields before they’re left behind.” See the entire interview with Klocke.
Keith Axtmann of Balta, North Dakota, is generally pleased with what he is seeing in the soybeans. There is some stress from the dry conditions. “When you look at the bottom of the plant, you can see some of the leaves are getting brown. If we had a little more rain, they might have stayed greener longer. Yet, if you look at the top of the beans and there are pods and they’re filling out.” Axtmann says the corn is doing well. “We’ve had a great year with GDUs so it is ahead of schedule.” Axtmann has been selling Pioneer seed for 35 years. The interview can be found on Facebook.
Brad Howe says the moisture has been somewhat spotty in the Minot area. “Yet, those areas with moisture look phenomenal.” How good is this crop? “I’d say it is an eight out of ten. There’s only a few spots where it doesn’t look that great so it’s is well above average.” Despite a late planting season, Howe anticipates a near-normal harvest schedule. Hear more from Howe.
Moving southwest of Minot, Brooks Heer has a Pioneer agency at Douglas in Ward County. Heer says the corn is in the R4 stage and is close to denting. A lot of canola has been desiccated and swathed. “We’ve had good reports on canola. The dry weather in June hurt some of the early canola, but it appears the later canola is doing quite well.” There was early flea beetle pressure in canola. With the dry conditions, hoppers have been commonplace, but not at treatable levels. Listen to the interview.
The western-most stops on the RRFN tour started dry and stayed that way. Clark Price with River Ag in Washburn, North Dakota says corn and soybeans are doing well. “The majority of the corn is just beginning to dent and the soybeans are getting close to maturity. I would guess we’ll be harvesting soybeans in another two-and-a-half to three weeks.” Sunflower acres are up and Price says a good crop on the way. Hear the interview with Price.
Pioneer field agronomist Larry Lunder coordinated the route for the first day of the RRFN Crop Tour. A lot of miles were put on for the first day of the tour. Lunder says conditions get tougher as you move south and west of the area seen Monday. “West of the Missouri River, we just haven’t had consistent rains across the area and it is starting to show up in the later-planted row crops.” At Hurdsfield, Lunder showcased the sunflower crop and offered input on desiccation. Lunder recaps the day in this video.
Red River Farm Network’s crop tour, presented by Pioneer, continues throughout this week. Follow tour progress on Facebook and Twitter.