A plate full of food and a good conversation were enough to make some area farmers forget about Tuesday's storm that kept kids home, knocked out power, and likely delayed fieldwork for another couple of weeks. In its first Crop Progress and Condition Report of 2024 on Monday, the United States Department of Agriculture blamed the snow and rain as the reason farmers could only put in 1.2 days of fieldwork last week. Twenty-seven percent of the topsoil moisture was rated as very short (eight percent) or short (19 percent), eluding to the dry conditions farmers across the state had experienced. Farmers will likely have to wait even longer to get into their fields after the state receives rain and snow this week. The storm could not ruin the mood at Rio Creek Feed Mill’s customer appreciation lunch on Wednesday, a nearly 30-year tradition for the family-owned business to thank area farmers and kick off the 2024 season. Rio Creek Feed Mill Owner Jerry Barta said farmers sometimes welcome a little adversity because of the experience many of them have to overcome.

Before the storm, USDA data showed that northeast Wisconsin was pretty close to its historical averages when it came to temperature (-0.9 degrees), precipitation (+0.47 inches), and growing degree days (-1 day).