If you look closely at Door and Kewaunee counties farm fields, the promise of a fall harvest is starting to show.  Good weather allowed farmers to put in 5.4 days of fieldwork statewide, according to the latest Crop Progress and Condition Report from the United States Department of Agriculture. It was slightly above that in northeast Wisconsin at 5.6 days. That has allowed spring tillage to be nearly complete, the planting of corn (93 percent), soybeans (90 percent), oats (95 percent), and potatoes (92 percent) to be all at or above 90 percent complete. The planted crops have also begun to emerge, ranging from 57 percent (soybeans) to 79 percent (oats). That places farmers at one to three days on either side of last year’s pace and the five-year average. The first cutting of alfalfa is almost at the halfway point, four days ahead of last year and three days ahead of average. The lone straggler could be winter wheat, which at 26 percent headed, is about five days behind last year but only one day behind average. Ben Heim from Heim’s Hillcrest Dairy in Algoma says it has been a good time for farmers to get some outdoor work done.

Farmers' pace could slow this week, with rain forecast for Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday, and Monday.