Rain Gauge Reports Million Dollar Rain?

April 2021 was the fourth driest in more than 110 years of records at the Southern Research and Outreach Center at Waseca. Plus, most farmers in our area received little to no rainfall in the first half of May. Saying the rain we received last evening and today was welcomed would be an understatement! I remember growing up my Dad would be talking to other farmers about a "million dollar" rain. Times have changed since than and I think you could call this rain a billion dollar rain!

In my travels it looked like the corn which was planted when the topsoil was not as dry had pretty good germination. The beans that were planted in the last couple weeks did not emerge nearly as well. Spraying my beans yesterday you would see emerged beans that looked good. Then a couple feet of bean rows that were missing. The beans were planted into dry soil without enough moisture for germination and emergence.

With this rain the beans that were in dry soil should germinate and emerge quickly. However, some of the beans I looked at had absorbed some moisture and were swollen but did not have enough moisture to germinate. They may still be able to germinate or they may be already dead. We will just have to wait and see. Hopefully many of those bare spots will have emerged beans in the rows in a week or so.

That is why this rain was so beneficial. Plus, hopefully it was enough to soak down to the seed so it can germinate. Here are the rain gauge reports that were called in this morning.

Mark just southeast of Faribault .4

Adrian by Truckers Inn in Faribault .56

Dale just east of Morristown .8

Mark from Nerstrand .5

Richard just southeast of Kenyon .1

Herb Faribault Robert's Lake Road .87

Rolf just west of Reliance Bank in Faribault .75

John Webster northern Rice County .9

Jerry's farm .5