Uncertainty greets farmers as planting season starts
Corn planting surges as growers eye profit potential, but dry weather, trade tensions, and policy shifts cast a shadow over the 2025 harvest

PARKER — The seagulls are circling, the ground is warming, and South Dakota farmers are back in the field.
Parker farmer Shane Merrill and his fellow corn and soybean enthusiasts are climbing on the tractor seats and turning unplanted acres into record production of corn, at least 400,000 more acres than last year’s 5.9 million, according to the recently released planting intentions report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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