While Minnesota bids drought farewell, farmers deal with rain-related woes
LINO LAKES, Minn. — For the first time in almost two years, Minnesota is drought-free.
The rainy spring has made an impact. For some farmers, like Butch Cardinal, getting so much water in so short a time has created problems, too.
"It's never perfect," Cardinal said, the owner of All Good Organics vegetable farm in Lino Lakes. "It's never 'average.' Farmers deal with it. It is what it is."
The excessive rain and heat have been great for the hay fields and pastures, according to Cardinal. But the rain flooded his farmland, too.
"It keeps us out of the fields," he said. "The tractors can't go. They sink, it's mud. Everything gums up, plugs up."
He says he'll be OK, but the flooding put Cardinal behind in his growing schedule and also killed some of his pepper plants.
"The best thing for drought conditions would be a long-term, steady rainfall so you can get it, you can soak it into the ground," said WCCO meteorologist Lisa Meadows. "Otherwise, when we do get a lot of storms at once, then you're looking at the flooding concerns."
