Ninth state in a 12-state tour
By Diego Flammini, Farms.com
The 4th annual Farms.com US Corn Belt Crop Tour continues to make its way through the American Midwest, visiting some of the heavy hitters in agriculture in the United States.
Led by Farms.com Risk Management Chief Commodity Strategist Moe Agostino, the team started the tour in Ohio and made their way through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota.
The ninth state visited during the 12-state tour is Minnesota; a state that ranks in the top 10 of corn, soybean and wheat production in the United States.
Throughout the tour, many of the farmers in the other eight states have battled excessive moisture. Minnesota seems to be in a little better condition than the others.
“I’m not seeing the standing water or moisture issues that we’ve been accustomed to on the tour,” Agostino said while standing near a wheat field on his way to Rochester, Minnesota.
Agostino said the soybeans in Minnesota are the best he’s seen during his tour.
The farmer responsible for those beans gives Mother Nature some of the credit for his field’s success.
“Since May 1st we’ve had ideal rains. It’s been perfect,” said Kevin Vetter from St. Peter, Minnesota. “We’ve had half-inch rains every three to four days and we’ve been pretty lucky right now. Our biggest rainfall was probably two inches at one time.”
Continue to follow the 2015 US Corn Belt Crop Tour as it makes its way into Iowa. Follow the tour on Twitter using the hashtag #CornBelt15.