A Dry Harvest Season

Posted: 10/28/2020

You know the saying, if you don’t like the weather in South Dakota just wait 5 minutes… Boy did we ever see a change in the weather this past week.

Many South Dakota farmers are thankful for the dry harvest season Mother nature brought us in September and October. In spite of a dry summer, the crops were able to find enough moisture in the soil to grow a bountiful crop. This allowed farmers to get the majority of crops out of the field earlier than normal.

Another benefit to this harvest season was because the crops were able to dry in the field, there was no need to dry the corn and soybeans before storing them for the winter. When it comes to how farmers store their crops, it takes a lot of planning and sometimes cooperation from Mother Nature. If the crops are stored with too much moisture, they can spoil. For long term storage, crops need to be dried to a lower moisture level. Luckily, most farmers didn't need to dry any of the crops this year.

So, when you store the food in your kitchen or pantry, take a minute to think about the planning that goes into how a bountiful harvest is stored on the farm or at the local elevator, to ensure it maintains quality. Follow South Dakota farm families on Facebook for more information.