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South Dakota farmer anticipates being behind

The latest wet weather has a Great Plains farmer concerned about how much longer he’ll be unable to do fieldwork.

“That has everything at a standstill,” said Paul Hetland, referring to almost two feet of snow that’s receded leaving fields too wet to work.

“There’s been no spring fieldwork in terms of fertility or planting,” said Hetland, who farms at Mitchell, South Dakota, near I-90, waiting for weather that will allow him back into the field.

“We’re still in need of probably five to seven days of sun before anything is going to happen in this area,” he said, telling Brownfield it’s not late yet, but much of the prep work prior to planting is not getting done.

“By the time we hit the field we’ll probably be two weeks behind, going on three,” he said.

Hetland grows corn, wheat and soybeans.