Hot Weather Helps Farmers Catch Up

Hot weather helps Wisconsin farmers get ready for the fall harvest, but the maturity of the state’s two largest cash crops is still behind schedule. The state Ag Statistics Service says 23-percent of the corn crop is mature, nine days behind the average for the last five years — and about one-third of the corn for animal feed has been harvested, one week later than normal. Eighty-one percent of the Wisconsin soybeans have turned color, nine days behind last year and four days later than the norm — and officials say the soybean harvest is just getting started. Almost two thirds of the Wisconsin potato crop has been harvested, and 39-percent of the state’s winter wheat is in the ground — eleven days ahead of 2016.