2018 Growing Season Ends

The 2018 growing season officially ended Saturday morning September 29th when the temperature dropped to 32 degrees. It was actually very close to the long term normal for seeing the first 32 degree temperature in the fall. Temperatures last week averaged 49.5 degrees and that was 5.4 degrees below normal. Growing degree units totaled only 15.5 degrees before the frost. The grand total for the year, 2775 growing degree units which was 12 percent or 305 more than normal.

It was basically a wasted week in terms crop progress. Corn only dried down a couple points because of frequent rain, cloudy skies and cool temperatures. Solar radiation during September was 13 percent below normal. This September was the third wettest since 1914 at the Southern Research and Outreach at Waseca with 10.54 inches of rain. We have been in a very wet pattern recently. The wettest September on record was in 2016 when 14.8 inches of rain fell. The second wettest September was in 2010 when 12.66 inches of rain fall.