As the days continued to grow shorter – and with the span of time before the end-of-year holidays also shortening – many in northern Wisconsin were reflecting back on 2025. Old Man Winter by early December had taken charge, with snow on the ground and temperatures see-sawing above and below …
Editor’s note: All of us here at Agri-View will miss LeeAnne – as well as Kaleb. They have been an important part of the publication for many years. Happy retirement LeeAnne!
“Everyone is racing to finish up any tractor work before Thanksgiving when temps are supposed to drop,” said Kaleb Ellis regarding farm work in the Waumandee Valley of western Wisconsin.
By the time the calendar flew past mid-November most folks were at a loss to explain how we arrived there so quickly. It seems like just yesterday it was summer. Maybe part of the reason for that feeling is that the past two months have been mostly very mild with average temperatures several…
The machinery is moving all across the valley in western Wisconsin as harvest pushes on to completion. There is still a lot of corn out there, but there are several farms already finished.
“Starting at dark and ending at dark,” is how Kaleb Ellis describes the ongoing 2025 harvest.
What a difference a few short weeks can make. Halfway through September, drought had all but disappeared from Wisconsin. A few weather prognosticators were talking about something called a flash drought hitting parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, but most wrote off those predictions.
Fall harvest is in full swing in western Wisconsin, with beans as the leading crop this week, and a few fields of corn leaving the field. We have some interesting observations as the machine work unfolds.
Farmers are busy, but without a lot going on in the fields. Many of them are preparing equipment for the big push. Combines were spotted rolling on a farm in our valley of western Wisconsin. Kaleb Ellis reports that his combine is ready to go and will start on beans in a week at the earliest.
As September was growing long in the tooth, there was a lot of talk about the unusual amount of moisture in the air. Folks along the shore of Lake Superior are accustomed to humidity, but inland the humidity usually decreases in September. But late summer and early fall this year have been v…
My fact-checker asked that I review the corn-kernel count I wrote about in our previous report. Even though I wrote what I was told, the numbers were off a little bit. It should have been 33 kernels on 16 rows. That’s still a good yield.
Some parts of Wisconsin could have used an ark recently but some parts of the far north were still a little short of moisture. But rain did come late in August in northern Wisconsin. By the dregs of August, days were noticeably shorter and mornings were quiet. Migratory birds already started…
We have a very positive report this week from western Wisconsin. The weather has been great for baled hay, which has been a problem all summer because of smoke haze, rain and extreme humidity.
Rye harvest is finished, and the bean pods are continuing to grow in this area of western Wisconsin. We had 4.5 to 5 inches of rain reported during the big rain the weekend of Aug. 9 and 10, with minimal damage to crops and roads. August seems to be a bad month for storms, especially large d…
We need to be careful what we say around here because the corn has ears! Kaleb Ellis adds that the soybeans have pods, and the rye is looking for a combine.
July proved correct the old adage that if one wishes different weather in Wisconsin, just wait a couple of days. In the far north the month started off cool and dry. Rains later came along with flash-flood and tornado warnings. Hay already cut was soaked. Hot and humid days flowed in. There …
We’re in the summer slump as far as farm work is concerned. Second-crop hay is finished, the corn and beans are growing and maturing, the small grains are turning gold, and animals are eating and gaining.
It can be wonderful when prayers are answered. And evidently some prayers for rain in far-northern Wisconsin were especially productive. By mid-month some fields that had challenges with germination early in the season due to dryness had standing rainwater in low spots. Hayfields and pasture…
On Wisconsin’s Lake Superior coast folks have a saying for boaters, “The lake is the boss.” But because the huge lake affects climate and weather, the lake can also be the boss of farmers.
We’ve been fortunate so far with a good growing season in far-western Wisconsin. We’ve had the right amount of rain with plenty of heat and sunshine. The crops in this area all look good.
This week’s report finds us in wait mode before second-crop hay starts. Kaleb Ellis has his Commercial Driver’s License so he’s been filling in as a driver for a local construction company hauling gravel and shale for new chicken barns.
“It’s been cold, but it’s the best crop we’ve ever had, with no yellow corn and everything is growing even,” said Kaleb Ellis about this year’s corn and bean crops. “I think it’s finally getting to the nitrogen that was stashed away. After that inch of rain everything kept perking up. Every …
Grandpa could always sleep, no matter what worry faced him. Somehow the tiny milk check and other farm income would pay the mortgage and the other bills. It could be that he was confident, but more likely it was that he was tired from working the fields with teams of horses.
After another mostly brown and dry winter in far-northern Wisconsin some precipitation started to fall as 2024 gave way to 2025. The moisture did help, but by May along Wisconsin’s Lake Superior coast conditions remained abnormally dry. And though a broad swath of the state’s center had norm…
“We usually like to gear up in April (but) it was all wet and soggy for a good two weeks,” said Kaleb Ellis about this year’s start to the growing season.
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