Mar 17, 2010
Normal Spring Planting Possible In The United States
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Warmer temperatures across much of the Midwest this week is prompting a rapid melting of the snow and thawing out of the topsoil. The retreating snow cover has allowed the temperatures to rise quickly. The rapid snowmelt is causing some localized flooding along the Red River on the border of North Dakota and Minnesota as well as the Cedar River in eastern Iowa. Flooding is never a good thing, but as far as spring fieldwork is concerned, flooding in March is much more preferable to flooding in April or even May.
Central and Eastern Corn Belt - Much of the eastern Corn Belt has experienced below normal precipitation over the last 60 days. Many of the fields are still saturated in the central and eastern Corn Belt, but the snow has melted and the frost is out of the ground. The warmer temperatures during the first half of March were very beneficial in preparing the soil for the spring warm up. The forecast is calling for a return of below normal temperatures during the second half of March, but barring an extended period of much below temperatures, farmers are optimistic that spring planting will occur at the normal time this year.
Western Corn Belt - The further west you go in the Corn Belt, the wetter it has been over the last 60 days. The weather during the first half of March has accelerated the snowmelt and the thawing of the soil. The snow cover that still persists in the western Corn Belt is quickly disappearing. Once the snow is gone, the stronger March sunlight should quickly thaw the topsoil. The temperatures in the western Corn Belt generally warm up the fastest and farmers in the western Corn Belt are also optimistic about the spring planting.
Northwestern Corn Belt - The situation in the northwestern Corn Belt is not quite as promising. The rapid melting of the snow is causing the Red River on the border of North Dakota and Minnesota to rise above flood stage, but flooding in March could still allow time for the fields to dry out in time for spring planting. If a cold and wet weather pattern returns to the northwestern Corn Belt, it could affect the early fieldwork in the region. Spring wheat and oats are generally the first grain crops planted in the region and a delayed spring could impact the acreage of those two crops, but it is too early to make that judgment at the present time.
Southern Locations - The fields in the Delta are drying out after a very wet winter and the farmers in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi are starting to plant their 2010 corn crop. Planting progress is more advanced in the Coastal Bend region of Texas where approximately 40% of the intended corn acreage has been planted. In Louisiana and Mississippi corn planting is just getting underway. In the Southeastern U.S., the fields are still drying out from recent rains, but barring a return of wet weather; corn planting should begin in Georgia and South Carolina shortly.
Many farmers in the Midwest spent the last two springs struggling to get their crops planted in a timely fashion. At the present time, most farmers are hopeful that the spring of 2010 will result in a more normal planting pattern.