BLACKDUCK — Some areas of Northern Minnesota received as much as seven inches of rain this spring and summer, and with fields too wet to plant, farmers and other agricultural stakeholders are voicing the impacts after recovering from historic drought in 2021.
U.S. Sen. Tina Smith visited with several farmers outside the Blackduck Agricultural Co-op on Wednesday, July 17, who have either had to delay planting or call it off for the year.
“We talked to one farmer today who said he had 1,000 acres that he never got planted because it was too wet," Smith said. "And of course, unfortunately, he paid to get his fertilizer put down before he had to give up on getting the field planted.
We have risk mitigation insurance that can help folks like that, but it doesn't make up for the lost income when you don't have a crop, you don't have that corn that you would be able to sell in the fall.”
While the Biden Administration issued an emergency disaster declaration for severe flooding in southern Minnesota last month, federal funding is available for hazard mitigation measures statewide.
Kevin Klair from University of Minnesota Extension noted the impacts of heavy rain on the area’s cattle producers, who are raising fewer cows now than they did before the drought in 2021.
“[Producers are] supplementing hay at a time when [the cows] should be on pasture, and impact because of the rainy season, due to scours on the calves, as the calves are being born," Klair said.
Smith is a member of a Senate Ag committee and said another extension on the 2018 Farm Bill is possible but noted that Minnesotans want the already-delayed 2022 Farm Bill to get done. She said visiting with agricultural producers helps bring important insight back to Washington.
“It's just really helpful to get grounded in what it's like to try to be successful in agriculture and farming right now, and it is a reminder of how much folks depend on the basic farm programs, especially crop insurance,” she said.
Funding for this environmental story was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
