Weekly Weather and Crop Update

Looking at the Weekly Weather and Crop Update from the Southern Research and Outreach Center at Waseca all you can say is it was another typical week. The pattern of cool and wet continued for another week! Temperatures averaged 57.6 degrees and that was 4.6 degrees cooler than normal. Rain was measured on six of seven days and totaled 2.12 inches. Normal would be 1.24 inches so we saw almost double the normal rainfall.

With the cool temperatures it is no surprise growing degree units were well below normal. Growing degree units totaled on 59 for the week which was 32 percent below normal. Since May 1 we have received 186.5 growing degree units and that is only 62 percent of normal. Many farmers still have corn to plant and we have now reached the time of the year when potential corn yields drop off about 2.5 bushels an acre per day. Very soon farmers will be forced to make a tough decision, plant corn or take the prevented plant option with their crop insurance.