Fort Dodge Messenger, IA
04-07-07
Cold weather creating problems for crops
Spring tillage delayed across entire Corn Belt
By RANDY MUDGETT, Messenger staff writer
The planters will not be rolling in Iowa anytime soon according to weather
forecasters who predict that the next 10 days will bring below normal
temperatures.
The optimum planting window in north central Iowa is from April 20 to May 20
with earlier-planted corn and soybeans varying better in recent seasons.
Harry Hillaker, state climatologist, said the next 10 days will be unusually cool in
Iowa holding soil temperatures below par. Just in the past few days soil temps
have dropped 10 degrees in the Fort Dodge area from 56 down to 46 degrees.
‘‘We have about 10 days of cool weather which should drop those soil temps
even more,’’ Hillaker said Monday. ‘‘After that it looks like it will start to warm up
especially when we are talking about the end of the month.’’
Farmlands are waterlogged at this time — unlike the past two seasons when
crop progress was much ahead of normal —leading to the question that if the
cool, damp spring season persists, will farmers alter their plans to plant more
continuous corn in 2007?
Weather forecasters said Monday that the current weather pattern will bring
temperatures that are 15 to 20 degrees below normal. Hillaker said it appears
that May and June should also be cooler than normal, at least that is what
normally occurs when weather systems head into a La Nina-type weather
pattern. La Nina is often related to hot and dry weather in Iowa, especially in
areas west of Interstate 35. If the pattern remains true, it could mean a hot, dry
summer that is detrimental to high yields.
Joel DeJong, an Iowa State University Extension crops specialist in
northwest Iowa, said farmers there are not too concerned with the wet, cool
patterns just yet. ‘‘We have plenty of water in the soil right now, but these are
loess soils here that drain rapidly and tend to dry out much faster.’’
DeJong said farmers would likely become very nervous though if the wet, cool
conditions lasted throughout the month.
ISU’s Elwynn Taylor said it is much too early for farmers to become concerned
with the weather. ‘‘We are having five days of cold weather now, but it only takes
about three days of warm weather to reverse that effect,’’ Taylor said.
Bryce Anderson, senior agriculture meteorologist for DTN, said the spring season
is promising to be a challenge for producers all across the Corn Belt.
“This should be an interesting planting season,’’ Anderson said. “Producers will
be put to the test this year seeing if they can plant acres even faster then before.”
According to Anderson, the cooling trend that set in last week will be a part of the
entire planting season, especially the part that brings moisture to the Corn Belt.
“In the last five years, we have had 25 percent of the crop planted by April 25,’’
he said. “This year we will be lucky if any is planted by then. The schedule will be
tight as all of the factors in planting the crop will be tested this year.”
Unlike most forecasters, Anderson said he does not rely on climatology models
like the El Nino or La Nina patterns in forecasting for DTN. Mostly farmers want
to know what the next 10 days will bring and that is the focus of the service.
Anderson said the next 10 days are relatively easy to predict. He said soil temps
will not warm much, rain will come back next week and soils will not be able to
dry out or warm up much looking ahead.
“I see rain persisting through the end of the month for most of the Corn Belt,’’
Anderson said. “We see cool soil temps here in Omaha and we see them just as
cool in central Illinois.’’