A stop on this week’s Red River Farm Network Crop Watch tour focused on the difficult spring conditions facing farmers across northwest Minnesota. “I’ve been an agronomist for about ten years, and I think this is the first time I’ve ever treated beans where I can see my breath and I can’t feel my fingers running the treater,” said Brady Sahr, sales agronomist, CHS Ag Services, Mahnomen. “It has been a tough spring, and I’m just really hoping all this seed comes up out of the ground.” The high fertilizer prices had little impact on acreage decisions this spring. “I think just all the CHS agronomists in general did a really good job of positioning our farmers really early before the Strait (of Hormuz) got closed,” said Sahr. “Some guys dragged their feet on maybe ten-to-20 percent of what their needs were for fertilizer, and I think we saw some big shifts in acres there, maybe to more beans just because the cost went up so much.” Most farms remained close to original planting intentions, but Sahr said recent strength in wheat prices also encouraged some growers to add additional wheat acres.
