Spring planting wrapped up quickly for many farmers across the Northern Plains once field conditions allowed equipment to roll. “We had a tremendous run once we got started,” said Neil Rockstad, who farms at Ada, Minnesota. “We didn’t have any interruptions with weather and we just pushed straight through from the wheat and sugarbeets right onto corn and soybeans and wrapped it up.” Strong spring winds, however, created problems across parts of the Red River Valley with blowing soil and sandblasting damage in sugarbeet fields. “There was a lot of dirt moving around and a lot of dust up in the air,” Rockstead said. “Quite a few people who had sugarbeets in early and emerged are either replanting complete fields or parts of fields.”
