MITCHELL, N.D. - The spring precipitation that made it difficult for many area farmers to get their crops in the ground has resulted in an increase in the amount of soybeans planted, according to area agricultural experts.
The rain washed away many hopes of getting corn in the ground. As a result, many farmers chose to plant soybeans instead.
"The bottom line is you can plant soybeans later and get away with it," said Gregg Carlson, a professor of plant science at South Dakota State University.
In Parkston, Gary Radel, manager of Agland Co-op, said the decision to plant soybeans instead of corn was a non-negotiable one for some farmers.
"It was a larger amount of soybeans planted just because ... some producers felt it got pretty late for corn."
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Carlson said some farmers took a more unusual approach to planting. Many planted corn where they could and left wet spots in the field to dry out until soybeans could be planted.
"If you drive around particular areas, you'll find places where they obviously planted around wet spots and then came in and planted later," Carlson said. "You'll find some soybean plots in the middle of corn fields because they couldn't get into those spots."
The plan seems to be working for some. A crop report released last week by the National Agricultural Statistics Service shows 26 percent of soybeans blooming in South Dakota, compared to only 5 percent in the previous week, although it is still lower than the 2007 statistic of 52 percent.
Those that did manage to get their corn planted can expect to see more growth in the coming months as long as the weather stays warm, said Carter Anderson, state director for the NASS.
A recent NASS report showed the average height of corn in South Dakota to be 37 inches. It's an increase from the same time the previous week, when the average height was 25 inches, but a decrease from last year's average of 60 inches at this time of year.
"With all the warm weather we've been having, I'm sure this is going to continue to improve," Anderson said. "We had a cool, wet spring and later plantings, so you would expect to have a little slower development. Still, it's not that far off that average."
Planting corn and soybeans in the same field is an "unusual" sight to see, but it makes sense to Radel.
"You have to put something in there to try to hold down the weeds or the vegetation, so you might as well put a crop in there," he said.
