May 28th freeze

[Randy F]

I'm sure it's been just killing you to know what 28 degrees F on a potato crop on May 28th will look like a few days later.

Well now you can stop wondering.

The top one is what they should look like this time of year here. I have 8 fields that look like the bottom pic. Thankfully the 15 remaining fields somehow escaped major damage.

Ya gotta love mother nature huh?

 

[sgt_zim]

I feel your pain, bro.

My uncle used to grow beans and cotton up north of Shreveport. Then he put in about 100 acres of peach trees. 9 out of the first 10 years he had the peaches, he got freezes after 15 march, and that area hadn't gotten a freeze that late in a couple decades at least.

 

[BRICKBURN]

The absolute joy of being a farmer. Bloody hell.

 

[Randy F]

The absolute joy of being a farmer. Bloody hell.

Yeah, occasionally I have to refocus to remind myself why I love to do what I do after a kick in the teeth like this one. Much like anyone else I'd guess.

 

[pajarito]

farming is the worst possible and most expensive addiction there is!

 

[pajarito]

but Farmers are one of the main things that make America great keep at it

 

[sestoppelman]

Global warming....

 

[CAustin]

I'm sure it's been just killing you to know what 28 degrees F on a potato crop on May 28th will look like a few days later.

Well now you can stop wondering.

The top one is what they should look like this time of year here. I have 8 fields that look like the bottom pic. Thankfully the 15 remaining fields somehow escaped major damage.

Ya gotta love mother nature huh?


View attachment 405128

View attachment 405129

Sorry to see this.

 

[WAB]

Sorry to see that. Farming is one of the most rewarding and frustrating professions!

 

[smokepole]

I live in Va. Potatoes in gardens here will regrow after freeze/frost Hope they do for you. Good luck. Just keep on farming until your money is all gone.

 

[Newboomer]

All the lefties and greenies blat and bellow about global warming. The cold hard scientific facts say otherwise. The earth is on a cooling cycle. Every so many years the earth warms, peaks and starts cooling. We are now just starting the next cooling spell. But, of course, they don't want anyone to know that. It debunks their fraud.

 

[Randy F]

I live in Va. Potatoes in gardens here will regrow after freeze/frost Hope they do for you. Good luck. Just keep on farming until your money is all gone.

Yes they will regrow. The problem is the setback regarding time. Now the question becomes whether or not they will make maturity before the big freeze on the other end. Keeps life interesting.

 

[gillettehunter]

Man I feel sorry for you about that. Late freezes are a real bitch. Like you said i
They'll regrow but the size and quantity in the harvest will be impacted significantly. I grew up in SE Idaho which is potato country.
Bruce

 

[sgt_zim]

Yes they will regrow. The problem is the setback regarding time. Now the question becomes whether or not they will make maturity before the big freeze on the other end. Keeps life interesting.

in WI, you have one thing going for you that doesn't really exist in the south is rich soil with organic matter in the 3-4% range. Down here, organic content is less than 1%. Your crops grow faster than ours do.

 

[Randy F]

in WI, you have one thing going for you that doesn't really exist in the south is rich soil with organic matter in the 3-4% range. Down here, organic content is less than 1%. Your crops grow faster than ours do.

Well, yes and no. Wisconsin is 3rd in the nation in potato production but aside from some varieties that will grow in muck soils, virtually all of the process and table stock production is on the sandy soils of central Wisconsin that are 1% om as well. There is some production on the western side of the state grown on a sandy prairie too.

You are correct regarding the majority of the state though where corn, soybean and alfalfa are dominant.

 

[sgt_zim]

when I was a little kid, we moved to KL, Malaysia. Dad worked for LSU, and LSU had a contract with Ford Foundation for spreading ag. experts around the undeveloped world. The mission for Dad and his group was to teach the locals how to grow potatoes. Took them 4 or 5 years total, but they went from 1" potatoes to solid US #1 and #2 potatoes. We were there from 1969 to 1971.

 

[Randy F]

when I was a little kid, we moved to KL, Malaysia. Dad worked for LSU, and LSU had a contract with Ford Foundation for spreading ag. experts around the undeveloped world. The mission for Dad and his group was to teach the locals how to grow potatoes. Took them 4 or 5 years total, but they went from 1" potatoes to solid US #1 and #2 potatoes. We were there from 1969 to 1971.

That’s a cool story.