The spring of 2009 is memorable already: Flooding, road damage, late planting, prevented planting and getting stuck in the mud.

After several attempts to get through the AdFarm North Dakota field, Cooperating Farmer Fred Lukens reports that the AdFarm 70 acres are now planted.

He says: “Like many fields in this area, we had trouble getting this field to dry down. We had to stop fertilizing the AdFarm field on Friday, May 29, as a result of a significant wet spot. We finished fertilizing this field on June 3 with the 8950 Case IH tractor pulling the deep banding fertilizer rig, getting stuck trying to get the final round finished. It’s the fifth time that outfit has been stuck this spring.”

Lukens reports that daughter Kirsti, a college senior majoring in communications and art, has started a Lukens farm blog. If you’d like to see the AdFarm pinto beans treated, the field being harrowed, fertilized and planted–complete with the stuck tractor–go to http://griggsdakota.blogspot.com

Lukens feels fortunate to have the AdFarm field planted. “We still have 120 acres of pinto beans and 70 acres of soybeans on the farm to plant. Both are fields that have been wetter than the AdFarm field,” he continues.

With the late spring, all field operations have been compressed. “It’s a struggle and probably will continue to be for the next few weeks,” he says.

The good news is that the AdFarm pinto beans are in the ground, a little later than normal, but still within the range of an acceptable planting date for east central North Dakota.