Happy Easter and April Fools!

I hope everyone had a nice Easter with their friends and families. I know Easter was earlier this year than the last couple years but it sure was cold. When the calendar flips to April farmers begin to think about spring fieldwork and planting. I guess that would be an April Fools joke for this year as cold as it is. This morning when I got up the temperature was 12 degrees!

I noticed many of the lakes are still covered with ice. I saw at the Southern Research and Outreach Center at Waseca there was still 13 inches of frost in the ground as of last week. It likely even deeper after the cold temperatures this weekend. In addition the forecast is cold for this whole week. Farmers always like to get an early start planting corn but that will not be the case this year!

I have been planting a crop every spring for more than 40 years. After that many years you have pretty well experienced it all. When you get well into April the weather can change quickly. Warmer temperatures and a rain can bring the frost out of the ground quickly. More than ounce I have been surprised at how quickly soil conditions can improve!