Harvest time

David Buysse harvests his navy beans northeast of Minneota under sunny skies on Friday afternoon. If the weather cooperates, more farmers will soon be seen in the fields harvesting their crops as fall closes in. Following last year’s slower-than-normal growing season, southern Minnesota is experiencing a faster-than-normal growing season. According to Minnesota Ag Statistics, over 80 percent of corn had entered the corn dough stage by Aug. 17. That was six days ahead of the five-year average, and two weeks ahead of last year.