All the snow we've had this past winter has made a positive difference for farmers in Vulcan County.
The Director of Ag Services for the county, Kelly Malmberg says they've had enough snow that it's filled up sloughs and dugouts that were completely dried out in a lot of areas.
"From what I see in my travels a lot of them have filled right up so that's definitely good news and I think the first six to ten inches of topsoil is in pretty good shape, it melted slow but most of the county we could start seeing the fields through the snow now, I'm optimistic, I think we're in fairly good shape starting the year" he says.
Malmberg says it's been above average compared to the last 15 years or so.
"I think just by comparison the last 10, 15 years I would think throughout the county we've had above average snowfall, I don't know if it's comparable to the 70's or the 80's but definitely more than I've seen in the last several years."
In some of the eastern portions of the county where it's been extremely dry, where a lot of sloughs and dugouts are used to water cattle throughout the summer months, Malmberg says they've been filled right up.
He says in all sectors of agriculture the markets look strong, calf prices were up to over $3.00 last fall and grain commodities have come down a bit but are still strong.
"I don't think there's any surprises, guys usually follow their rotations, and each commodity is priced quite well so I don't think we'll see a lot more of one commodity, I think guys will follow their rotation."