Thanks to plenty of sunshine and timely rain, you are seeing some plants come out of area farm fields, but it is what you can’t see that farmers need the most. According to the USDA’s Crop Progress and Condition Report released on Monday, the corn emergence rate is 11 days ahead of last year’s pace at 91 percent, while soybeans are three days ahead of last year’s pace at 85 percent. Deer Run Dairy owner Duane Ducat says it has been a productive spring thanks to good field conditions and a strong first hay crop. The only issue farmers have been experiencing is a lack of heat. Temperatures in the 80s, let alone the 90s, have been sparse so far this year. The first 90-degree day of the summer is forecast to occur on Saturday, and the heat is expected to stick around through the weekend into Monday before storms drive the temperature back down. Ducat says the warm temperatures will help develop all of the crops in the fields.

Ducat will showcase how he no-till alfalfa into cover crops to help promote healthier and stronger soil when he hosts the next Peninsula Pride Farms Conservation Conversation at Deer Run Dairy on June 24th at 6 p.m.