Regional News Briefs: Farmers in region wrapping up harvest early

Talk about it

Wisconsin farmers are wrapping up their corn harvest well ahead of schedule.

The National Ag Statistics Service has issued its final progress report on the Badger State’s crops. 94-percent of the corn-for-grain was harvested as of Sunday – 25-percent more than the normal for mid-November. Yields have varied greatly, even with the same fields – and despite the drought, numerous reporters said the quality of their corn was better than expected.

The latest government estimate has Wisconsin harvesting 431-million bushels of corn for the year, 17-percent less than a year ago. Farmers have completed 72-percent of their fall tillage work – the most by this date in the 30 years in which tillage records have been kept. Half of Wisconsin’s farm fields remain short-or-very short of moisture.

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Farmers in neighboring Minnesota are expected to harvest 15-percent more corn than a year ago – while Wisconsin and other Midwest states will see declines due to the drought. The USDA said it expects the Badger State to put out 431-million bushels this year, a drop of 17-percent from 2011. But Minnesota is expected to have a harvest of one-point-four billion bushels, with a double-digit increase not seen elsewhere in the Midwest. Doug Hartwig of the USDA’s field office in the Gopher State said they had timely rains which off-set the drought’s effects. He also said farmers planted corn on more acres this year – and they had better yields.

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We’re learning more today about Fred Statz, the former Dane County man killed when his car was broadsided by a semi-truck in southern Minnesota. The State Patrol said the 25-year-old Statz was from Cross Plains, west of Madison. But Waseca High School football coach Brad Wendland said Statz actually lived in Mankato, where he worked in a factory and commuted to Waseca each day to be one of Wendland’s assistant coaches. Wendland told the Mankato Free Press that Statz a “vibrant” man who took a kid who liked football, and made him love it. Statz played football at Mankato State from 2005-through-’09. His parents still live in Middleton.

Tags: news, wisconsin, minnesota, agriculture