MINNEAPOLIS —
Mike Bergeron started sowing wheat on his farm in northwestern Minnesota on St. Patrick’s Day. One week earlier, he was towing two of his daughters on a sled behind his snowmobile.
Bergeron and his business partner, Jon Ross, are among at least a few farmers in the Upper Midwest taking advantage of an unusually mild and dry winter to start planting spring wheat in mid-March. While there could still be a bad frost, they’re taking a calculated risk that the early start will let them reap a bigger crop this summer.
“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” Bergeron said with a laugh on Tuesday, the official first day of spring.
Experts said that while it’s rare for farmers in the Upper Midwest to plant this early, it’s not crazy.
“We’re still on the early side, but that’s the key to having a good wheat crop — it’s planting early,” said Doug Holen, a University of Minnesota Extension educator based in Morris. He said he knows of wheat growers in other parts of Minnesota who also have started planting.
Wheat yields tend to be better in cooler weather partly because wheat makes more efficient use of soil moisture the earlier it gets planted. Wheat and other small grains such as barley and oats also aren’t as susceptible to frost damage as corn and soybeans.
Kansas and Colorado grow winter wheat that’s planted in the fall because the summers are too hot and dry. North Dakota, Montana and Minnesota typically are among the spring wheat leaders.
