Last week was in the 70's and we thought planting was near. Today it's 3+ inches of snow on the ground and it's still coming. Many of the schools are letting out. Larry can remember when it snowed on Mememorial Day weekend when he was a kid. A farmer freind of mine mentioned that he was always told not to plant corn before Easter. I have heard of the 7 weeks of rain on Easter, but was not aware of the don't plant before Easter saying.

The Gilmore City Plant Entrance

The Town of Gilmore City

Yield Starts Here is a blog for farmers, focusing on increasing yield and profitability by focusing on the soil. It is managed by Craig Dick, a Blogronomist and Sales and Marketing Manager at Calcium Products. Find other articles by Craig and guest writers at http://blog.calciumproducts.com/ .

As the summer weather continues to challenge us with excessive rainfall, many producers are now considering what their options may be for planting a summer forage for next winter's feed needs.  Dr. Stephen Barnhart, ISU Extension, has some excellent tips & recommendations in this article: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/CropNews/2010/0629barnhart.htm. 

One issue that Dr. Barnhart does not address is the need to monitor soil nutrients.  Some or all of the nutrients that were applied during this growing season may have been lost.  The only way to know for sure is testing of both the soil & tissue.  Make sure to include these tools as you consider what your next steps once things start drying up.  SuperCal SO4 is an effective tool in helping the soil & microbes begin to recover.

Be sure to check out this link to past stories:

http://blog.calciumproducts.com/posts/resources-on-flooding.cfm

Our thoughts go out to all those affected by flooding. I can’t remember a time when we had flooding issue in (almost) July! In addition to not being able to get into the fields to spray weeds, the stand losses , and nitrogen leaching; flooding affects the soil in many ways.

Here is a list of past stories related to weather and flooding. After all you can’t control the weather, so let’s think about how we are going to protect our soils and yield for the future.