Saturday, July 28, 2012

Rain Makes Grain - Maybe

When was the last time you heard, Rain Makes Grain? If you heard it, most likely it was in jest or someone said it because they needed rain. With one of the weather models predicting August could be wetter than average, maybe by the end of the month, it can become a recovery chorus. The trouble is, August isn’t a wet month. What some call wetter than average may not be near enough.
I think there is one safe prediction for the summer crops of 2012, and I have hesitated making any formal prediction. I am waiting for the first Country and Western song about the plight of the US farmer and the drought of 2012.
The northern Midwest has received some rain and if a normal summer prevails for August, there will be some very good crops in the upper Midwest. But for the majority of the corn and soybean crops in the US, it will be up to genetics, management, prayer and rain dances.
In Kansas City, during the early hours of Thursday morning, it rained about four tenths of an inch. I woke up and opened the window. It sounded so nice that I decided to keep the window open but since the thermometer said it was still 84 degrees, I also kept the air conditioner on. By morning the pavement was completely dry and the grass felt like light dew. After days and days of 100 plus degrees, about all that can be said of a half inch or even an inch of rain; it sure sounds nice. Also, with high 90’s predicted for the coming week and then back to over 100, I can’t wait until harvest to see actual yields. I don’t want to make it appear I repeat myself, but I still feel estimating yields is a study in futility and waste of time. (more)

No comments:

Post a Comment