Planting seeds when the wind blows

Strong winds have been the norm this spring, but blustery conditions aren't slowing farmers as planting season hits its stride.

Regional agronomists reported steady progress with corn planting across the area over the past week. According to Leah Ten Napel, an agronomist with ISU Extension whose territory includes O'Brien and Osceola counties, farmers are making a big push to get their fields planted thanks to warmer weather.

"Planting progress around my territory started slow in the middle of April, as growers were waiting for soil temperatures to rise," she explained. "Now that soil temperatures have risen, planting progress is really picking up. With rain in the forecast for next week, I foresee many acres getting planted this week."

ISU Extension agronomist Gentry Sorenson, who covers Clay County, reported around 40 percent of corn in his territory is in the ground. He also noted 15-20 percent of soybeans have been planted.

"In some areas more progress has been made than others due to better soil conditions for planting," he said. "Soil temperatures have been cool. Warmer weather is predicted in the next few days and that will help increase soil temperatures above 50 degrees."

The warmer weather has been nice, but many farmers have rain on their spring wish lists.

Drought continues to linger across much of the region despite decent winter precipitation totals. The U.S. Drought Monitor lists both Clay and O'Brien counties in severe drought, while a majority of Osceola County is under moderate drought.

"We did receive good moisture over the winter but the ground was frozen in many areas, which didn't allow that moisture to infiltrate the soil profile for subsoil moisture and it ran off the surface," Sorenson said. "Spring rainfall has been helpful but timely rainfall will be important this year."

ISU Extension's spring subsoil moisture survey backed up Sorenson's observation. The sample site at Sanborn showed 5.17 inches of plant available moisture this spring, 2.23 inches below the historical average of 7.4. A site near Sutherland showed a deficit of 2.09 inches, where 5.31 inches of plant available moisture were measured. That site also has a historical average of 7.4 inches.

A sample site at Rossie in Clay County bucked the deficit trend. It showed a surplus of 2.29 inches of plant available moisture, based on a total of 9.79 inches measured this spring. The historical spring average at the Rossie site is 7.5 inches.

A comparison of the last three sample collections shows general improvement of plant available moisture compared to the fall 2022 testing. However, this spring's readings are generally lower than those of one year ago.

"The effects of the drought were very evident during the growing season last year," said Ten Napel. "The soil moisture data tells us that we will be relying