“Typically, we are on a 60-40 ratio of corn to soybeans, and this year we are going to be right at 50-50,” she said. “Where markets are at, it looks like a better opportunity to plant just a little more soybeans this year.”
In southern Minnesota, some farmers converted some of their corn acres to soybeans this year to keep western corn rootworm in check, according to Brandon Fast, who farms in Cottonwood County and runs a seed and chemical supply business. Fast is also a member of the Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council.
In the southern Red River Valley and around Otter Tail County and surrounding counties, some farmers skipped corn and soybeans on some acres altogether in favor of wheat, said University of Minnesota Extension Integrated Pest Management Specialist Bruce Potter. He said the goal there is to head off soybean cyst nematode,
Still, not all farmers are changing course. MCGA board members Rob Tate and John Swanson farm in Goodhue County in southeast Minnesota and Polk County in northwest Minnesota, respectively. They both said that, for themselves and their neighbors, there doesn’t appear to be any significant deviations from common crop rotations.
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