We are noticing a trend in weather with rain patterns at the beginning of the week, suspending fieldwork for many farmers until typically late Wednesday or early Thursday due to cold, overcast weather conditions following the rain events. Weather continues to be an issue, with cooler temperatures in the 30s at night and frost as we wake up in the morning. This slows the pace for everyone as we wait for the sun to shine and temperatures to climb to get field activity rolling in the mornings. The struggle to get soil conditions near optimal continues as farmers try to finish planting season and we try to finish pre-herbicide applications. With more rainfall in the forecast next week, we may see the same trends again. Many conversations focus on the weather and what the right thing to do is with current forecasts. Many are getting anxious, but we reflect on the past few years and how great the conditions have been in our territory.

This week, temperatures continue to stay between 50 and 60 degrees as daytime highs, with nights dropping into the 30s and frost many mornings this week. Cold and gloomy for the most part!

Precipitation ranged from 0.2 to 1.2 inches across our region Monday night. Scattered storms throughout our area brought around 1 to 2 tenths of an inch Thursday afternoon and through the evening. Pop-up showers have been a challenge this week after field conditions were fit enough to get back at it.

Field and soil conditions started this week wet and sticky. Soils are cold and have some farmers concerned about crop conditions. This also presents hesitation to continue planting. Throughout the week, the soil has slowly improved. With colder temperatures and cloudy days, it has been challenging to reach optimal conditions for any fieldwork.

Field activities were halted at the beginning of the week. Late- to midweek spray applications continued, and some planting picked back up Friday.

VE to VC hits the majority of our soybeans. Some have not emerged yet, and some that were planted in early April are just a bit bigger but don’t look great. Conversations about replanting have been had in some cases. The soybeans in our on-farm Sulfur 2.0 trial that were planted April 25 are emerging this week.

Corn is starting to emerge this week in many fields. There are some fields planted early that have corn in the V2 stage. All corn has a yellow look to it due to the weather and soil conditions it has been dealt.

Wheat is 12 to 16 inches tall, while growth and development have started to slow down with the cold, rainy weather from the past few weeks.