Farm Belt Continues to Get Hit by Unpredictable Weather
Planting pace should increase following Memorial Day warm-up.
Compiled by staff
Published: May 22, 2008
The wet weather this spring has had trouble making up its mind where it was going to hit. First one area was drenched then another and then back to the first. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says back and forth nature has made spring field work very difficult.
"Early on we saw delays in the southern and eastern Corn Belt," Rippey says. "During April those delays shifted into the upper Midwest and now as we head through May we're seeing the wet weather shift back into the southern and eastern Corn Belt."
This week's crop progress report reflects the shift in the weather pattern.
"We've seen now some renewed delays in places like Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, in the lower Great Lakes region and the Ohio Valley," Rippey says. "Meanwhile we've really picked up the pace in the western Corn Belt and across the North. Minnesota and Iowa are planting like crazy as we head toward Memorial Day, and the focus will start shifting from corn to soybeans."
Rippey says cool temperatures will remain in the eastern half of the Corn Belt until Memorial Day when a warming trend should improve planting progress, quickening the planting pace throughout the Corn Belt.
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Tagged: Corn Belt, usda, soybeans
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