Heavy rains delay planting season for some Butler County farmers
It has been a soggy start to the season in Butler County, with at least seven inches of rain in a few weeks. At the Daubenspeck Farm, there is standing water in the pasture due to the soil being oversaturated, and farmers said that is a problem for many reasons.
On Stevenson Road in Connoquenessing Township, you’ll find Guy Daubenspeck’s family farm, a 226-acre beef operation that has been there for decades. They also sell hay, grain and custom mixed livestock feeds, which the Daubenspecks grow and produce on site…if they can.
“The last spring that i can remember it was this wet was 2011,” Daubenspeck said.
Oat planting is delayed, which could push back the schedule for other crops as well, and it’s l because of Mother Nature.
“The later it’s planted, the less bushels per acre we get,” Daubenspeck said. “We got two months worth of rain in a little over two weeks. You just can’t farm very well with in standing water.”
While most of the ground has been prepped and plowed, experts say soil moisture in the majority of Butler County is well over normal levels, so Daubenspeck said the conditions are less than ideal for planting. Other farmers said the rain has also affected the livestock side as well.
“We calved our last calf in the stall, just with how wet it was. We didn’t want it to get chilled whenever it hit the ground,” said Alyssa Marker, who owns a farm in Portersville.
“The one good thing we can say – there is going to be hay, and there’s going to be grass because we have gotten the water,” Daubenspeck said.
He is hoping to plant oats in the next seven to 10 days. He and other farmers are gearing up for the ‘Planting for the Future’ farm show this weekend.
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