Eighth state in a 12-state visit
By Diego Flammini, Farms.com
The 4th annual Farms.com US Corn Belt Crop Tour is in full swing and has made its way through seven of the 12 planned state visits.
Lead by Farms.com Risk Management Chief Commodity Strategist Moe Agostino, the tour goes into the fields and talks to the local farmers to get a better understanding of field performance and what impacts the yields could have on the farmers and consumers.
The team started the tour in Ohio and has traveled through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota before the Peace Garden State – North Dakota.
As its been in the previous seven states, excessive moisture is a major factor in the fields.
“North Dakota has received 13 inches (of rain) in the last two months,” Agostino said. “Annual precipitation is around 13 inches.”
Despite the constant battle with weather, farmers remain optimistic about the upcoming harvest.
“I would be happy with in the forties somewhere,” said Josh Anderson, a farmer from Rugby, North Dakota. “That’s a pretty decent yield for up here.”
“We started the year dry and took in a lot of the moisture,” said Mark Rohrich (@SunflowerFarmer on Twitter) in front of his sunflower field in Ashley, North Dakota.
As they did in South Dakota, the wildfires in Western Canada are impacting agriculture in North Dakota.
“The sun is not that bright,” Rohrich said. “It’s a lot of haze and has created a lot of low ground humidity. It’s weird weather.”
The 2015 US Corn Belt Crop Tour will make its next stop in Minnesota.
Be sure to follow the tour on Twitter using hashtag #CornBelt15.