P-J file photo

Crops are off to a slow start.

However, in spite of weather initially hindering farmers’ planting seasons, the situation has improved steadily. This is on top of late planting in May and abnormal weather patterns of rain during early spring.

According to Western New York Crop Management Association crop consultant Dan Steward, the region is very fortunate.

“We are not behind (in planting and preparation cycles) like others (regions),” Steward said. “Most of the farmers I have talked to (in Western New York) are close to 90% complete in their planting seasons.”

He cited that other areas like the Midwest have been further behind in this year’s planting season due to the weather.

Steward said that most farmers in Western New York would have planted their seedlings by April. However, the snow and rain conditions that occurred through much of the month prevented this from happening.

“For the first part of May there was no field work done,” Steward said. “Even though it has been overcast and average this year we are still in better situations than most of the country.”

As such, Steward explained that the majority of farmers were only able to plant crops such as corn around June 6-7.

Steward added that currently the majority of farmers that are growing in Western New York are dairy farmers who will use either corn, grass, alfalfa or both to feed their stock. He explained that currently these are the prime crops that are being planted for the year along with grain corn (processed for animals). The majority of these crops will then be used for winter.