Views from the Cab

By David Tollefson, Columnist

What a difference a year makes!

I’m not the largest farmer around, but this would be a sample of what went on last year and is going on this year.

2021                                                                2022

Wheat planted: April 5                              Wheat planted: May 5

3 days rain Apr. 6-9: 3.72 inches            2 days rain May 11,12: 4.05 inches

Corn planted: April 29                              Corn planted (43%): May 18

Beans planted: May 9                               Beans planted: 0

I have been picking rocks, for myself and a neighbor, for what seems like a month.  I have picked in sticky conditions, I have picked on frozen ground where the picker has had to pound the rocks loose from the frozen topsoil.  I have backed the picker into wet ground to get at rocks almost under water.  

I have picked some areas more than once. There have been rains that eliminated the tracks from the previous times.  

We have had several rains which have pounded the bare soil, causing major erosion.  And that, of course, exposes more rocks that can be seen, which apparently I missed the first time over.

Regarding my wheat crop, both years have had major rains right after planting, which to me is very unusual.  Wheat is the first crop we plant, because cold temperatures after planting don’t seem to bother.  

In most years, the heavier rains come closer to summer, in late May or June, when the wheat would be up and more established, to hold the soil from erosion.  

I would attribute these deluges to climate change.  

So, here’s the deal.  A year ago, we had the heavy rain in early April.  And we can all remember what happened after that.  It was the driest summer in years.

What’s our summer going to be like this year?

Who knows?  Too much rain can reduce yields just as too little.

The market gurus are twisting themselves in knots trying to figure out how many bushels of corn, beans and other crops we will harvest next fall.

Regarding the severe weather of last Thursday the 12th of May, we were very fortunate right here south of Starbuck.  We here in my area are served by the Agralite Cooperative in Benson.  My power went out at about 5 p.m. that day.  The wind was quite powerful for a few minutes, with some rain.  But then the rain pretty much quit.  I called the emergency number, as did some of my neighbors.  The recorded message mentioned a large outage, including neighboring towns without power.  They had no idea when the power would be back on.  

Fortunately for us, the power came back on after 5 hours.  

However, people in Starbuck and farm areas between my place and Starbuck are served by different utilities.  People from town came to my place to charge cell phones, borrow my small generator, and one couple to watch a graduation online of a grandson graduating from U of M.

Some of my farm neighbors were without power for 68 hours, having to generate power with their tractors for that time.

My neighbors and I consider ourselves fortunate, since you’ve all heard and seen on the media about the severe damage in Benson, Hancock, Morris, Lowry and Starbuck.

Yesterday, May 18 Governor Walz was in Benson and possibly Alexandria to view the damage.  

I live not too far from Lake Emily.  Lake Minnewaska drains into Lake Emily via Outlet Creek.  That stream is very high, as you might expect. Northwest of my place is a township road to an unoccupied former farm place under which Outlet Creek flows.  It is a cement structure, of which I took a picture. The water is very close to running over that bridge (it may have at some point).  

It’s great to see most of the leaves on the trees.  Summer is soon here.  But the dandelions are blooming…is that later than normal, too?

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Please contact David Tollefson with thoughts or comments on this or future columns at: adtollef@hcinet.net