Slow start to spring (Diane Beels and Stan McGraw)

Diane Beels, Vita Plus Loyal agronomist
Central Wisconsin’s progress report for the spring of 2014 is “quiet as a mouse” at this time.  We were getting down to the last of our snow banks when the rain turned to snow again.  We have not had any tillage work in the fields, just preparation for it.  Manure needs to be hauled and the ground needs to firm up before movement in the field will take place.  The winter wheat and winter rye are greening up.  Alfalfa is starting to break dormancy, which means, in the next two weeks, we will be able to start looking at stand counts in the fields to see how everything looks.

Stan McGraw, Vita Plus Dodgeville agronomist
Spring has started in southwest Wisconsin.  About 80 percent of the winter wheat looks good.  Some fertilizer has been applied, but recent low temperatures may change things.  We will be looking at fields in the next week to assess damage.  The alfalfa looks good.  Newer stands have made it through while older stands have not greened up enough to tell yet.  Most grain farmers have decided to keep the same ratio of corn and soybeans as previous years.  This will be the first year in five that we will reduce fertilizer applications according to their financial budgets.