Weather
Friday Picture
Well at least it is a dark green this week. Last week before the rain we were a greenish yellow wilted color. That color isn’t good for indicating plant health.
Out the back door picture(s) for this week showing the drought and heat stressed beans here behind the house. The cool weather of late has helped and the rain of a week ago has the beans blooming again. But those pods that are being set are only 2 bean pods. That ain’t good! We will see what the weekend brings as we have another slight chance of rain.
Rain and Wind Yesterday
Shot some video of the rain as it came in with the wind. It got pretty sporty here for a while. Lots of limbs down in the area, some homes damaged and barn doors ripped off. But it RAINED. That’s the sugar that makes the rest of the bitter be OK.
Today was another hot one but we have a chance of rain tomorrow……….lets hope we have primed the pump with the last rain to keeep it going for a while.
Sorry for such a short video, all I could bet before it got sporty.
It still rains
What an unexpected blessing this morning and afternoon. Rain.
Some pop up thunderstorms rolled this way. I poured half an inch of water in the gauge to prime the pump and we got .75 of an inch out of the two rain events today. It was much needed and changed the color of the beans very quickly.
The air temperature dropped almost 30 degrees after the rains moved through. That was a very nice addition to the rain!
Corn is being shelled southeast of here. I expect to see some shelled here in this county middle of next week if not earlier.
2 inches of rain so far
The last three days have provided us with two inches of rain out of three rain events. There is no water standing anywhere and the ditches have no water in them, which means it all is soaking in.
But for the second time this year I have seen one of those funny cloud formations. I am sure there is a name for it, but I haven’t had time to look it up yet.
View from the road………
Crops:
I have looked at several fields of early corn this week and last week and there are pollination issues in lots of areas. The hot dry weather and low humidity are also taking its toll on the later planted corn. I saw several fields yesterday that were rolled up and turning white. Some were knee high others were trying to put a tassel out. There are also a lot of compaction issues in some of these fields in some areas due to the constant early rain and replanting. Long silks are also another concern in some areas as this is a sign of trouble pollinating.
There are also lots and lots of soybeans that are “yellow”. At first you might think of Round Up Flash but most of these fields the plants have very small root systems or restricted root systems and we are seeing nutrient deficiencies because of the root system. Some fields are growing out of it but others are going backwards. At this stage of the game with the temps and low humidity we need a rain on both the corn and beans. I have also had a report of some tissue test on these beans showing low K and B due to the small root systems. I saw one field of later planted beans that looked wilted yesterday evening.
Safety:
Please be safe out there guys. Yesterday I saw a farmer driving a Rogator almost take the door off a car in town. He was driving to fast to start with and weaving in and out of the “parking lane” along the side of the road. Slow down not only in your equipment but in the heat. Several reports of farmers getting “sun poisoning” and heat sickness. I know we need to spray and bale hay and mow but please take care of yourselves while you’re doing it.
Spraying Food for Thought!
From the Frank James blog. Round Up kills non Round Up corn pretty good…………….(link)… Don’t let this happen to you. Know your hybrids and communicate that to the operator of the sprayer, custom applicator, chemical company or service company.
Hot, Hotter, Hottest
It is HOT. I thought Sunday was hot but this is just unbelievable. It almost burns to breathe………..The heat index today was 115 if I heard correctly!
Well we got done with Canola harvest on Sunday and I got all the beans drilled today. It has been a hot one for sure and some of the corn is starting to show the stress around the area.
I went out in our last planted field and took some pictures. It is about to tassel and the ear shoot is emerging from the leaf collar. Color is good and we are standing the heat pretty well but when I start to tassel I want a rain! Just a rain, no wind or hail or anything else, just rain. But I am picky.
I walked out into the field and held the camera above my head as far as I could reach to take this picture. The tassels are just about the peek out.
I skinned back this plant and cut the ear out. If it pollinates and if it fills…………it looks to be a good corn crop come fall. If it doesn’t………………well all you farmers know.
All in all we had a very good canola crop for the year and the adversity it faced from the day it was planted. The wheat crop was pretty good despite the rust and disease late. And the first DC beans are poking through the soil!
Now, to spray, spray, spray and hope for a bit of cooler weather and a shower while we tassel and pollinate!
30 acres left to go
Short note for today on yesterday: We got another field done yesterday afternoon and got all the auger wagons full before we had to stop. No trucks. Got the bean drill caught up with the combine, or at least to the field it was in, so its only 40 acres behind.
Last night I had trouble sleeping and got up to see that we were about to get hit with another storm at about 4 am. Once again for the third day in a row, two tenths of an inch of rain. Just enough to make things pretty sticky today.
So we sit……..and wait for trucks and dryness.
I got in a hurry yesterday…….
Got up at 0400, that’s 4 am for you civilians, to run over to the farm and put a tarp on the bean drill to keep it from getting wet on a night where there was no rain forecast. It lightening and thundered and carried on and then rained a whole two tenths.
Then I got up and was taking my time about getting things ready when Lori called and said that I had better not drag too many things out, big rain coming. Rain coming on day with forecast as partly sunny and no chance of rain?
Well I filmed about 4 min worth of the front before it got here. It came with a special weather statement of 60 mph+ winds, hail and heavy rain. All we got was a gentle breeze and another two tenths.
Needless to say, no progress yesterday and most likely little today………………….
Canola Harvest Update #3
I got to down load my phone a while ago and remembered I took these pictures of the storm as it built up last night.
These storms of late have some very high tops and anvil clouds. From my storm spotter training, I know that means trouble. Trouble we don’t need!
When I said we just got the tractor and wagon in the shed before it rained, I mean it. Nothing got wet and all is on the way to Golden Gate to the elevator.
Super Cell
I almost forgot that I had taken a picture of a super cell thunderstorm as it built up just west of our farm on May 26. I watched this thing just mushroom up in the matter of an hour or so.
While we didn’t get any rain from it, I understand that folks in the county to the west of us got up to 4 inches in places from it, with a little hail. These storms have been funny this spring, moving north to south, south to north-north west and even east to north west. And when it rains, it rains inches at a time.
From the gee whiz file I guess………
Rain Clouds and Thunder
Yesterday I was walking some corn fields when at about 9:30 I heard what I thought was thunder. But not a cloud in the sky. About an hour later I saw this formation begin to build very slowly.
By 1:00 pm it was starting to tower pretty good and put on that “anvil” top. Still could hear rumbling thunder off in the distance.
Then about 4:00 pm it started to rain. And rain it did in some places. Anywhere from a trace here on the outside edge of the storm to radar estimates of 3 inches.
We drove up to Whittington last night and the water was standing in the road ditches and fields. Radar estimate there as one inch. Have yet to get an “official” farmer report on that though.
Out the back door Friday
.75 inches of rain the last 36 hours. Not near the 2 inches they were yelling about but really nice for us. Some got much more and some got a little less but there is some severe weather potential this afternoon as the front passes through.
It has been a while sense I mentioned wheat so I took a picture of the wheat to show that I still have it and that it is in the process of filling the kernels. While final yield is a way off, I must say that even with the drown out spots this is the best looking wheat crop I have had in a long time. The stand is uniform in height, color and head size. The bonus is that I have no lodging at this point, subject to change with a big wind………..
Now the rain cometh….
After a week of hit and miss rain and showers when every weather guesser had us in for a monsoon, farmers finally went back to the field today. Now, the radar is painted green, yellow and red coming in from Missouri.
The way some of the ground has been worked a big rain is not needed. It will plaster those soybeans in.
And those fields that have yet to dry out don’t need a toad strangler either. They need sun and wind and warm weather so they can be replanted.
After the fast start and seemingly early finish to the planting season, we could be in store for a repeat of the late planting of last year.
And that long hot dry summer we haven’t had in a few years seems to be looming out there. But then again I am a pessimistic…………….
Stand Counts and Replanting
Copy of email I sent out this am.
Friends
Kind of a reminder,
I am more than happy to look at fields and help with decisions on replanting etc. BUT you need to be talking to your crop insurance agent before you make any decision. You crop insurance policy may be the determining factor on what you end up doing based on coverage. What might be an agronomic no brainer to me and you might not be the best economic decision based on your policy.
Also, like the fields that were looked at yesterday, it is possible that it will be next week before they could be replanted, and with additional rains, it might be June before they get replanted. (Things can change fast this time of year, they could get planted this weekend if the sun shines and the wind blows.) You need to know what your options are from an insurance standpoint before you do anything at that point. Talk to your agent.
PLEASE don’t rely on coffee shop talk on what your insurance will do or not do. The coffee shop talk cost several farmers a lot of money last year. Don’t get bad advice from the wrong “experts”, talk to your agent and get the straight on what your coverage and options are.
Again, if you need help I am more than happy to assist, and I am not being a smart @$$, but the first thing I am going to ask is “have you talked to your agent and what did your agent say?”.
I hope we get some sun and warm weather to turn the looks of this crop around soon………
Thanks and be safe out there!
(file photo)
Clouds but not much rain…
Its not Friday but here is an out the back door picture for you from Wednesday morning. This cloud formation was pretty different and impressive as it rolled, yes the clouds rolled along. I tried several different ways to photograph it but this was the best picture I could come up with, and it doesn’t do it justice.
I have seen a similar cloud formation, in 2008 near Wayne City. I took this picture while scouting corn that day…..
HyMark High Spots
Fair TimeSeptember 5, 2010Observations in Agriculture
FloodingSeptember 4, 2010Confessions of a Pioneer Woman | Ree Drummond
September SunriseSeptember 4, 2010AgWired
Know a California FarmerSeptember 4, 2010Macks Page
Annual ConferenceAugust 13, 2010