You can thank Mother Nature for a slower start for Wisconsin farmers this year than last year. The United States Department of Agriculture released its first crop progress and condition report of 2025, showing the impact of recent rain and snow and the winter’s cooler temperatures. Farmers across the state had 1.6 days suitable for fieldwork last week, compared to less than a day at the same point last year. Much of the work was spent indoors preparing their equipment for the upcoming planting season, though manure haulers could get to fields in some parts of the state. According to the USDA, oat planting is one percent complete, and spring tillage is two percent, which is a couple of percentage points below last year’s pace. The condition of the pasture/range (67 percent fair to excellent in 2025 vs. 70 percent in 2024) and winter wheat (93 percent fair to excellent in 2025 compared to 96 percent in 2024) are similar to year over year. However, the unseasonably warm temperatures gave the fields a head start they did not receive this year.

Recently, Nick Guilette of Ebert Enterprises in Algoma said farmers were scouting their fields to search for areas of winter kill to their crops, estimating that planting will not occur for many farmers until mid-to-late April barring any significant shifts in the weather. He did open the possibility of an earlier planting date depending on your fields’ elevation and location in relation to Lake Michigan.The seven day forecast is giving farmers something to cheer about with just limited chances of precipitation and warming temperatures over the next seven days.