With the frost going out of the ground and the recent rains, local farmer Andy Huston says the area is in better shape than a month ago moisture wise. Looking into the upcoming planting season and the current situation in Ukraine, Huston provides a crop outlook:
“We are not really changing a whole lot up. We have always been pretty much on a 50/50 rotation. With the input costs the way they were, we didn’t put any corn on corn down this year. I’ll be curious to see how the growing season goes this year, but wheat definitely I am maybe thinking about putting some of that in this fall with the way that wheat prices are. The invasion in Ukraine, with fertilizer prices and nitrogen especially, Ukraine, that country produces the most anhydrous of any country in the world. Their infrastructure is not in very good shape right now and from what I understand, if you are in the shipping industry, you can’t afford the insurance to go into a port in the Ukraine right now.”
Huston adds that with the ongoing invasion, growing crops that don’t require a lot of nitrogen will be on the minds of farmers this growing season.
**Written by WMOI/WRAM Director of Communications Kelsey Crain**
