Johnson finishes one day of seeding before rain comes – again

It's been a tough planting season for producers in northwestern and north central North Dakota with few acres being planted.

Spring has been unusually wet with little sun and lots of precipitation and flooding throughout the region.

Fields continue to be muddy and wet, with standing water in most fields, and many roads continue to be closed or are treacherous to drive on due to water running across the roads.

Roger Johnson, who operates a farm/ranch with his wife, Mary, near Donnybrook, said he was finally able to get into the fields on Monday, June 6 to seed. Earlier he had harrowed a few hundred acres in order to bring the soil up and dry the ground more quickly.

"I finally seeded some spring wheat," Roger said, adding he planted the wheat on the same ground he had earlier harrowed. However, the fields were still soft in areas. "I didn't get stuck, but there were some close calls."

As luck would have it, he blew a hydraulic hose later in the day, but was able to get 160 acres seeded.

Then it started to rain again.

That continued throughout the week, with most days overcast and rainy.

"Unless something drastic happens and there is a week of dry weather, we probably won't get any more acres seeded," he said. They have decided not to plant canola this year even if the weather dries out. It has just been too long after the planting date deadline, he said.

Roger said it is the worst spring weather he has seen in his entire life of farming. "I've never seen anything like this before," he added.

But Roger is not the only one with planting problems. In fact, toward Glenburn and Mohall to the west of him, he has heard conditions are even worse.

"The land there isn't as flat and doesn't drain as well," he said.

With all the wet weather, most of his acreage will probably be prevent plant acres this year. This is one reason it is important that crop insurance continue to be kept a strong program, he said.

"There wouldn't be farming today without it."

The one positive is they have a great hay crop coming with all the precipitation, and the grass is greener than it has ever been. The cow/calf pairs will be enjoying their summer pasture this year.

"The alfalfa fields are looking nice, too," Roger said. "We'll have some happy cows this year. That's a plus."

All the calves have been vaccinated and tagged and have been moved to summer pastures.

Meanwhile, Roger, who is on the township board, attended a FEMA meeting with Mary in Minot. There were representatives from many townships there, looking to see if FEMA would be providing any dollars to help them with fixing the poor roads they have due to flooding.

"There must have been 100 people there from the townships looking for money for roads," he said.

In his township, Roger said a few of the roads have at least become drivable recently. If they can't get FEMA dollars due to the number of requests for loans, the township will fix the roads themselves, he said.

Meanwhile, Roger and Mary are looking forward to his oldest daughter and her husband coming from Florida to visit them.