Moisture Causes Planting Delays
By Mike Palmerino, www.DTNProgressiveFarmer.com
The latest crop reports are out and show no major surprises. Corn planting in the southern U.S. remains behind normal but it is starting to catch up with a seasonal trend for more warm days and less-frequent rainfall. Producers likely will continue to make further progress taking advantage of the strengthening April sun to dry out fields in between rain events.
Fieldwork and planting delays have begun shifting northward into the Midwest. Expect little fieldwork due to frequent episodes of rain, some of which will be heavy. There are no indications at this time of any dryness issues developing in the Midwest as the pattern will continue leaning much more to the wet side rather than the dry side.
Southern and eastern areas should anticipate further wet conditions. Portions of the northwest have actually been on the dry side with producers happy to see more moisture. However, given time this could become too much of a good thing and could ultimately end up slowing fieldwork and planting during the latter half of the month.
Dryness is the southern Plains winter wheat region continues to be an area of concern. This region has adequate to short topsoil moisture. As the crop is still only in the vegetative to jointing stages of development, moisture needs have been limited. However, as the crop advances toward heading, moisture needs will increase. It is a tough call to make at this time as to whether these areas will pick up some significant moisture in the coming weeks. The wet weather pattern will not be far off to the east. It will all depend on the speed of movement of systems coming in from the west. If they move too fast, Gulf of Mexico moisture will remain off to the east. If these systems move through at a slower speed, Gulf moisture will be able to find its way back further to the west into the main growing areas. Along with dryness concerns, some of the northwest areas experienced winterkill, which will impact production.
The northern Plains had a snow drought this past winter, leading to little concern over spring flooding. Producers should enjoy the drier fields they are experiencing now and take care of some pre-planting fieldwork. The seasonal northward shift in the wet weather pattern for the central U.S. will likely bring more rainfall to the region later in the spring.
Mike Palmerino has been a consulting meteorologist to the grain and commodity futures industries and to news and information services for over 25 years. As Senior DTN Ag Meteorologist, Mike analyzes short- and long-range temperature and precipitation patterns and their impact on agriculture in the major growing areas of the world. He can be reached at mike.palmerino@dtn.com.
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