This Spring Was Worse than 2013

When farmers think back over all the years they have planted a crop there will be a couple that all farmers will remember. For example 1993 that was too cool and wet. Many farmers called it the year of 40, 40 and 40. That meant corn harvested in the fall was 40 percent moisture, it yielded 40 bushel an acre and was 40 pound test weight. Then more recently 2013 was known as the prevented plant year, or the year of cover crops. If farmers could not get a crop planted it was required to plant a cover crop to protect the soil.

This spring will be remembered for many years too. I am not sure what "nick names" will be thought of to refer to this year yet, but I am sure there will be one that many farmers will use to describe it. Each month I check with Tom Hoverstad who is a scientist at the Southern Research and Outreach Center at Waseca. Tom tracks the weather and it is interesting to look at the monthly averages. Data showed that Plant 2019 was colder and even wetter than the prevented plant year of 2013!

Yes, the official weather station records show that Plant 2019 in May was a touch wetter and cooler that 2013! In my mind 2013 was still more miserable than this year. In 2013 we received many inches of snow early in May. Plus, the rains seemed to be more regular in 2013. There just were no chances to get in the fields. This year for most farmers there were a couple windows when you would get a day or two to get in the field before the next rain.

In my mind there is one other major difference between 2013 and this year. In 2013 the really rainy pattern continued all the way though June. That year I planted my last field of beans on July 2. There was not an opportunity to plant the entire month of June. This year our June weather so far has been really nice. These last few days a lot of beans have been planted!