HILBERT, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The old saying is knee-high by the fourth of July, but in some areas of Calumet County, it’s knee-high a month later than when it should have been.
Amber O’Brien is the agriculture educator for the UW-Extension. She said the type of soil causes crop quality to vary across the state– even across Northeast Wisconsin.
“Calumet County is doing better than I would say the average Northeast kind of up towards the Green Bay area,” O’Brien said.
It’s hard to estimate the exact loss for corn because of the variability, but O’Brien predicts there will be up to a 50% loss of corn in Calumet County this season.
“There’s been other years like this but it’s been a continual challenge this year because it started all the way in spring,” John Vandenboom, who farms in Hilbert said.
The root of the problem is an extremely wet spring that pushed back planting.
“Just like a house plant or a vegetable plant that someone is growing, too much water is going to be drowning out the roots,” Vandenboom said.
That means corn has less time to grow before it needs to be out of the ground. Vandenboom’s farm uses their corn for feed.
“It doesn’t have to reach full hard kernel maturity, but it’s still gonna end up dying from a frost and then pushing our harvest kinda together,” he said.
The farmers who grow corn for people may have to sell the corn as feed if it doesn’t reach maturity in time, according to Vandenboom.
“In the area we’re in with all the dairies, you can usually find a dairy farm that’s willing to buy the feed, but a lot of that is decided way before the growing season,” Vandenboom said.
As for other crops, O’Brien said wheat is doing well this year. However, she predicts soybeans will suffer a 15 to 40% loss in Calumet County.
