ANOTHER DRY YEAR?

Mennoniteman

Well-Known Member
We need rain badly here in PA and there's not much on the forecast. 2019 had a dry spell in late summer, 2020 was even drier, some of our ladino clover is still spotty from drought damage last summer and this year's starting off worse, it's unusual to be this dry in mid May here. I washed the vehicles and that didn't work, we invited friends for a picnic and even that didn't change the forecast. What we really need is some climate change here or center pivot irrigation or something. Are you guys dry too? Does anybody have any water ideas?
 
Dry here as well and it’s depressing. Watching my corn burn up like it did in late May a few years ago. Trying to save some sweet corn.

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It’s been so wet here since early April, that we can’t even disk the garden to plant and we normally have everything planted in the garden by the middle of April. I did get most of my plots in last weekend but even then I had to work around some lower areas that were to wet. It was probably too wet to drill but the seed won’t grow setting in the bag in the shop.
 
Dry over here as well. I’ll get most of my corn in this week and hoping the time and money isn’t for naught. Interestingly, we’ve also had very little dew. Although it feels like it should be more, farm logs says we are only short 4” over the year to date 10 year average. I’m usually hoping for a dry spell to get my corn in the last week or two of May. Not so this year. Hoping for a change.
 
It’s been so wet here since early April, that we can’t even disk the garden to plant and we normally have everything planted in the garden by the middle of April. I did get most of my plots in last weekend but even then I had to work around some lower areas that were to wet. It was probably too wet to drill but the seed won’t grow setting in the bag in the shop.
Well, that explains it. Arkansas has our rain. This makes me feel a little better about the future, as I recall, you kind folks from Arkansas sent Bill Clinton east to us in 1992, so I'm sure you'll eventually send us some of that rain.
 
We’ve had plenty of rain Feb- April. It’s shut off now. We planted last weekend, into new clear cuts and old foodplots with rain coming Tues-Weds. That changed Sunday afternoon. No rain in the forecast for 2 weeks.


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Well, that explains it. Arkansas has our rain. This makes me feel a little better about the future, as I recall, you kind folks from Arkansas sent Bill Clinton east to us in 1992, so I'm sure you'll eventually send us some of that rain.


That’s the only way we could get him out of the state. So it was a win for us and a lose for everyone else. Last year the rain shut off by the end of May and it didn’t rain again until September, I don’t want to go through that again. We had to buy hay just to make it through the winter and we’ve never done that before.
 
Been a wet but cool spring here. Clovers are slow coming on. I’ve sometimes had to mow them 3 times by end of May. Not last couple years. Spigot turned off and dry hot weather for next 2 wks.
Worst drought was fall 2019 w no rain 4 mo.
As I always say on here... farmer says you are always only 7 days from a drought. Holds true.
Multi plant plots, developed OM w good soil micro and macro organisms and no bare soil w tall shading growth to control soil temps and evaporation helps weather extremes. Plus thistle will always grow!


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Dry here as well. I haven’t planted our sunflowers, corn, millet/Sudan grass hay or summer plots yet because it’s too dry to plant without at least a little rain. Pastures still look good and its made for great hay making conditions but needs some rain for sure.
 
It is so dry I watered the grafted apple nursery beds each day before Planting in them. The soil was more like dust.
 
I’ve been absolutely spoiled here in west central GA because we have had plenty of rain for the last 18 months or so, unfortunately now it hasn’t rained in over 2 weeks with none in the 14 day forecast and we’ve got mid 90’s highs starting too. It’s been raining here for so long I had forgot what it is to worry about it being dry but I’m starting to remember.
 
I need to split my rain up. Dry in Kentucky and I need it bad up there to green up my fields for their second spraying for pollinator prep. Meanwhile down here in Louisiana, we just had 13 inches in one day and it's been raining every week for a long while now. It's keeping my garden vegetables too wet.
 
Talking about drought and food plots, I’ve discovered that soybeans are a great choice for me as we plant shale ridges in the rain shadow of a mountain that's in a naturally drought prone area even on a good summer. Soybeans seem to like it hot and dry and I've found that forage beans are an almost drought proof food plot.
 
It’s dry in western NC, potential thunderstorms late next week. I was planning to add BW to any bare spots but that’s not happening until we get substantial rain in the forecast.


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We went through several years of drought from 2011 to about 2018...many of those years we got very little measurable rain from February through September. My pine plantings and fruit trees were dying if I did not water and food plots were futile most years. I know you guys remember the lamentations “Brushpile” used to speak of considering the drought and we had much of the same...mesonet at the time showed we were even dryer than his area. Having said that we are now on our 3rd odd year where it rains regularly so far. I started this dozer business and much of the time I cannot work due to rain or wet ground and I am sitting in that situation right now. I have several jobs I am awaiting dryer weather to do. This is our 14 day forecast.

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We are in South Dakota right now and it has been a bit dry but it did rain yesterday here and good chances later today. Lakes, ponds, and streams are low up here right now but down home in Oklahoma all are overflowing...


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I also live in AR. We only got ten inches of rain last week. In a dry spell right now, supposed to be a couple of days before another downpour. The last six years here has been unbelievably wet. I live just south of what was the wettest area of the state last year - where they received 103 inches of rain. I got almost 30” of rain last Aug and Sep alone. I have a duck slough that dried up every year from 2004 through 2014 so I could plant it. Has dried up once since then. Next door neighbor has been unable to plant his 600 acres five out of the last seven years. Never missed a year in the previous 25 years. All the boat ramps closed on the local lakes due to high water. Yes, it is wet here. My planting amounts to a spreader on the back of a polaris ranger. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of tractors and implements that are unusable because of the water. You have to get to your kill quick before they sink in the mud

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I’m in the same shape that swampcat and deer patch are in. It rains dang near every day. I was able to get a few dry days and got my plots planted, but I don’t know if the peas and beans will make it or not. It’s been my experience that they don’t like their feet wet. We get river flood warnings every other day. We have been lucky right where I live in that a lot of the rain has either been N or S of us. So we don’t get all the direct moisture but we get the runoff from it. The sun is semi-out today but more rain is in the forecast. I need to spray two clover plots but one is much too wet and I’m not going until I can get both of them. Much longer and I’ll have to mow them again. My yard needs mowing and I can’t even do that !:(
 
From what I am hearing central Kansas is getting plenty of rain this year. Hoping neighbor got his 80 acres of soybeans in. And wishing I had more time this spring to get some more things done. Once I plant some oaks in 2022 expecting it to go dust bowl days next year. Fair warning to anyone farming in KS.
 
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