[mlappin]

Cold and wet, chance of rain everyday rest of the week, not small ones either.

 

[Vol]

We have added a little over 10" since my post on March 18. 26.32" so far for the first third of the year.

But, it is like dawg mentioned, we are always 3 weeks away from a drought here also. It takes at least a inch per week during the peak of the summer just to keep things from burning up.

Regards, Mike

 

[haybaler101]

We were cold and mostly dry until a week ago. ~2.5" since last Thursday and more coming. Planting probably close to half done in southern Indiana and most went to some really nice seedbed, just cold.

 

[danwi]

We have been so wet the past 2 years I had a field I couldn't do anything with, the water was running right out of the hill, drove on it yesterday and it is finally dry. Don't want to jinx ourselves but we could use a good warm rain. I live 50 miles west of lake Michigan but this year we have had a lot of east and northeast strong and cold winds off the lake. A lot of corn and beans planted in the area, better and dryer ground this year but the ground is cold. I would say 80 to 90% planted here. Wheat, rye and hay are growing slow. Fields of new seeding with oats look good where people planted early but later fields are slow growing. Also not the best conditions for spraying windy alot and cold for burn down chemicals

 

[JD3430]

10 degrees below average temps and above average rain next 10 days....

At least the roots will be good and watered.

 

[Farmerbrown2]

29 degrees and snow showers in the forecast for Friday night here awful strange weather for sure.

 

[BWfarms]

Averaging at least an inch of rain per day for a week and no let up in sight. It's not like it rains all day, it's pop up storms that continue to rapidly develop. Ground is so saturated it will be a while before hay gets made again.

 

[Vol]

Yeah, it's looking like it's going to be a tough year here. Hay here is past prime and really ripe. Only redeeming thing is that it looks like yields will be very good after looking rather weak a month ago. Forecasts are pointing to the first week of June for a break in the weather here.

Regards, Mike

 

[luke strawwalker]

We started off with a really dry and fairly cold winter that stuck around longer than it should have... It's still been cooler than normal (welcome on the TX Gulf Coast, actually) but the dry spell had me worried, particularly at Shiner, because most of the rain falls there in winter and early spring and it was DRY there-- we get to the warm end of spring and the rain really cuts back normally, just about the time it starts getting HOT... so you REALLY want to go into the hot weather with the grass green and thick and the soil good and moist, because the sand can't hold moisture well or for very long.

We FINALLY had a series of fairly severe storms starting about the middle of March... One night it woke me up the wind hit like a blast wave like went from 0 to 60mph winds in about a half second, like a bomb went off... rain was pounding and mom's house was shaking pretty good. Got another storm a few days later that filled the ponds back up and had a lot of water running everywhere which was good to see, and it was a long rain event which is good so it's actually soaking in and not all running off. We've had a series of severe storms since then, including two in a row Sunday night and Monday night of this week. The one Sunday night spawned some tornadoes, knew it was bad when I looked at the radar and some storms breaking out ahead of it were moving north along the squall line that was blowing up and moving ESE-- storms moving a different direction ahead of a storm line induces "spin" in the atmosphere and can spin up tornadoes... but the one Monday night was rather placid for a "severe" storm... the weather radio was going nuts but we didn't even get much wind at all and maybe an inch or so of rain from each. I let Keira take the Mahindra out and sit in the cab and watch the lightning show-- she was close enough to the power pole that any nearby lightning would likely hit it or the house rather than the tractor... She enjoyed it she said.

I just hope we keep getting regular rains, because like some have said, we're never more than 3 weeks from a drought, particularly in Shiner, and once the HOT weather undoubtedly arrives SOON, when it gets dry, it gets DRY QUICK... particularly on the sandy land at Shiner... the flat clay soil at Needville holds a LOT of water, but when it gets REALLY dry, it turns to concrete and cracks into 3-4 foot blocks with up to 4 inch wide cracks between them like a checkerboard...

Later! OL J R

 

[luke strawwalker]

One thing I HAVE noticed, having a BIL in Indiana, is that usually our weather patterns are opposite each other... if it's bone dry here, it's flooding wet there, and vice versa... Got something to do with El Nino/La Nina patterns from what I can tell... So far they've been a little wetter than they'd like and we've been a little drier than we'd like, but now we're both happier with where we're at the past few weeks from what I gather...

Later! OL J R

 

[JD3430]

Still wet/cool here.

 

[Shetland Sheepdog]

Definitely starting to get dry here in srn NH. :huh:

gonna need significant moisture to get a decent second crop!

 

[Farmerbrown2]

For the first time in three years we are going to bale three days in a row. Actually having what I call normal weather not to wet not to dry.

 

[IHCman]

Getting rather dry here, got .30 two nights ago but was hot and windy the two days so could use another shot of rain already. Most crops look ok, pastures look better than a couple weeks ago, hay will be better than last year but might be hurt a bit from the cool dry spring.

 

[Uphayman]

Currently 4.6" over normal YTD. Which is great after the last couple years record precip. The issue we're facing is a high water table. At 15 miles off the bay of Green Bay, and record levels on Lake Michigan, ( I'm no hydrologist) but, I'm thinking this is what's driving levels inland also. Timely rain has given this area, a great start.......... hay crop might be a record breaker.

 

[BWfarms]

I have no idea where we stand as far as rain totals but it will increase over the next 10 days, 8 calling for rain. Usually I'm done with first cutting about mid June. This year should have been a unicorn year with wife working from home and watching the boys. The hold up has been needing the fields to dry out before even thinking about driving on it. I think I'll be correct in my prediction of finishing up around July 4th.

 

[Palmettokat]

We have had rain for almost two weeks steady. Have bermuda to be sprigged for near a month now and they can not get to us or into our fields as they are real wet.

Grass is growing so fast it is amazing. Coastal Bermuda really needs baling this week and forecast is not promising.

 

[IHCman]

Very dry here, getting serious. Had a chance of rain for tonight but looks like it all went North of us. Next chance is a 50% chance on Wednesday. If it doesn't rain soon we're going to be in trouble.

 

[Vol]

Very dry here, getting serious. Had a chance of rain for tonight but looks like it all went North of us. Next chance is a 50% chance on Wednesday. If it doesn't rain soon we're going to be in trouble.

Know the feeling well. It doesn't take long to get dry in this part of the country when in the upper nineties everyday. That period of time is getting real close. We have at least one drought period here every summer....even in "wet" years. This area can go from a beautiful lush green to yellowish tan pretty dang quick.

Regards, Mike

 

[haybaler101]

Depends where you look here. Have corn on sand hills planted mid April that is desperate for a rain and the planter is stuck as we speak in the same field in some low ground that is still not quite dry enough. As a whole, we are ideal here for mid June, getting to the dry side and making crops put down roots, just as long as the rain doesn't quit completely. Early corn is 10 to 14 days from tassel and beans will be blooming soon.