Weather Challenges Continue for Farmers

This has been a tough growing season for farmers right from the beginning last spring. Late this summer I was thinking, maybe Mother Nature would give us nice weather this fall? We needed sunshine and warmer than normal temperatures to move the late planted corn and soybeans toward maturity. Maybe we would have many days in a row of warm sunshine for a nice stress free harvest. Well, that did not occur and now we have around 4 inches of snow and really cold temperatures!

On the positive side, I am thankful that the weather cooperated enough that all of the beans have been harvested. In addition a lot of corn has been harvested and tillage has been done. We will have to wait for the snow to melt or blow off the corn before we can combine corn again. When snow gets into a combine it melts and causes a "sticky mess" that will plug up the sieves.

Now, trying to find a positive side to the snow. The forecast is calling for really cold temperatures down to 5 degrees. Maybe the snow will provide some insulation and keep the frost from getting too deep. Then if it warms up later this month we will still be able to do some fall tillage?