This mild winter may have farmers asking if it’s too early to plant.
A research agronomist from the North Dakota Research Extension Center says…maybe.
Researchers planted 20 different crops to see whether or not it’s too early.
Spring wheat, durum, fava beans and industrial hemp are just some of them.
This test is similar to one the Extension Center did in 2016 when weather conditions were similar to this year. Some crops survived and produced good yields — while others did not.
“We may be going into a cycle that either, where we’re seeing climate change and maybe these warm periods are going to become more frequent. If that’s the case, maybe farmers would have an opportunity to go out and plant a little earlier than they typically will,” said Eric Eriksmoen.
Eriksmoen says North Dakota has 20 more frost-free days compared to 75 years ago.
