A farmer from the Landmark area says he put a header to the ground in his first soybean crop of the season yesterday. 

Randy Plett of Aspen Ridge Farms explains they have a portion of their crops near the farm and the other portion in the St. Adolphe area. Plett adds despite this drier year’s he’s still feeling somewhat optimistic.

Basically this year they’re looking, I would call it reasonable," says Plett who notes about a month ago they were looking at what could have been an excellent crop. "Because of a lack of rain in the last while, I’m still looking at maybe an average to slightly above or below, close to average crop."

He adds with their fields spread between two different areas, Plett says their crops closer to home look a lot better. "In the Landmark area, we have had a couple of rains that were a little better here so right away showed up in the soybean stand or in the pod fill so we’re expecting a little better here than in St. Adolphe."

Plett explains once soybeans are harvested, they get processed by different cleaners in southern Manitoba and then stored for retail. He also notes crushed soybeans are used for oil and protein for animal feed. 

Although Aspen Ridge Farms has not planted any corn this year, Plett says they seeded numerous acres of sunflowers which he claims are doing quite well. 

"They thrive on dryer conditions," states Plett, "obviously they need enough moisture as well but they have a good tap root to be able to go down for moisture. Disease-wise, they really thrive on conditions that are a bit drier so I think they are set up to do very well this year."

Plett notes sunflower harvest is two to three weeks away.