Heat and rain cause harvest delays in northeastern North Dakota
Rain and warm temperatures halted harvest progress in northeast North Dakota during September.
Rain — heavy in some counties — has stalled the canola and dry bean harvest, and unseasonably warm temperatures have prevented farmers from digging potatoes and sugarbeets.
In western Grand Forks County, near Larimore, North Dakota, Hoverson Farms delayed the start of the 2024 potato harvest several times during September because nighttime temperatures were too high to safely store the crop.
Hoverson and his sons, Casey and Mike, raise 5,400 acres of processing, chipping and table stock potatoes and also corn, seed canola, soybeans, sugarbeets and wheat.
"Most years we do get a week of hot weather that slows down harvest. What's unique about this year is the overnight temperatures," said Andy Robinson, North Dakota State University and University of Minnesota potato agronomist. "When it only cools down to 68 or 69 degrees, that doesn't cool the potatoes off."
"The sweet spot is really between 45 degrees and 65 degrees," Robinson said.
Hoverson Farms doesn't harvest its potatoes unless nighttime temperatures are below 55 degrees.
"We've learned our lesson that if you dig them too hot, they only last a couple of weeks," Carl Hoverson said on Tuesday, Sept. 17. "We're just going to be patient. You've got to do it right."
During the latter part of the week of Sept. 9 there were a few fields of red potatoes harvested in the northern Red River Valley, where night-time temperatures were cooler than they were further south, but those farmers also shut down their operations after temperatures warmed on Sept. 15, Robinson said.
Hoverson Farms tentatively had scheduled the start of the potato harvest for Sept. 19.
The start-up date was weather dependent, not because of the temperatures — nighttime lows were forecast to cool into the mid-50s — but because there was a chance of rain for a few days previous to Sept. 19.
After decades of farming Hoverson is taking the harvest delays in stride, noting that every growing season is different.
"I don't get any fret about it. It's just farming," he said.
While the rain and warm temperatures have delayed the start of the potato harvest, the upside is that they have added size to the crop.
"I have a nice crop. They're still growing. They're getting to be a bigger crop all of the time," Hoverson said.
Overall, the potato crop in North Dakota and Minnesota is average, Robinson said.
The crop had potential to be "really good," but late-season diseases and insects took a toll on it, he said. For example, in some areas of Minnesota the crop developed late blight which either resulted in it dying or farmers killing the vines to stop the spread of the disease.
Verticillium wilt, a fungal disease that causes an early death in potatoes, also was found in some fields during September, Robinson said.
Overall, some North Dakota and Minnesota potato fields are "doing well and some aren't doing well," he said.
"I don't think we're going to have a bad crop; I don't think we're going to have as good of a crop as I was hoping," Robinson said.
The warm September temperatures and rain also occasionally halted the pre-pile sugarbeet harvest in northeast North Dakota. Shutting down pre-pile for short periods is pretty typical.
"We did and normally do experience shutdowns throughout pre-pile due to heat and rain," said Steve Rosenau, American Crystal Sugar Co. vice president of agriculture. "Beets won't store very long if it gets too hot, and growers can't harvest during and after a rain."
Meanwhile besides potatoes and sugarbeets, rain stopped northeast North Dakota farmers from harvesting canola and dry beans.
In Langdon, North Dakota, in Cavalier County, 4 to 6 inches fell during the day and night of Sept. 16, according to the National Weather Service office in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
The canola harvest in Cavalier County was about half finished before the rains, said Anitha Chirumamilla, cropping systems specialist at North Dakota State University Langdon Research Extension Center.
The heavy rains, which resulted in saturated soils and standing water in some fields, likely will stall the canola harvest for a week to 10 days, Chirumamilla estimated.
The dry bean harvest in Cavalier County and across northeast North Dakota also was halted by rain and when farmers will resume it will depend on the amount of precipitation that fell.
The soybean harvest in northeast North Dakota had not yet got underway before the last round of September rain.
Soybean development in the region varied from fields with leaves that still were green to some that had yellow leaves to others in which plants had dropped their leaves.
In Cavalier County soybean fields were still green on Sept.17. By the time farmers finish harvesting their canola and dry beans, they should be able to start on soybeans, Chirumamilla said.
A stretch of dry weather, and moderate temperatures would be optimal for resuming the harvest. "Not just potatoes but all of the crops,"Robinson said.
