Hopefully by the time you read this, we will have received some much needed rainfall. The National Weather Service is saying that most places will get some rain within this next few weeks. They are saying that it will not end the drought at this time and the worst hit areas of northwest Ohio may get the least rainfall where it is needed most.
The office has been busy taking in 4-H entry forms for the Delaware County Fair. Our Fair will open on September 17th, which is just three weeks away. We have been gearing up for a few weeks now. The weather is feeling more “fall like” and it reminds us that fall is clearly around the corner. Forecasters are calling for near normal temperatures and below normal rainfall for these next two weeks.
You know that the Delaware County Fair is just around the corner when we start talking about the Farm Science Review. Seems that this summer has flown by as we are fast approaching the first day of school for our kids and football two-a-days have been going on. We have survived the heaviest rains in our state in more than a century, and the crops overall are looking pretty good around the county.
I was on our weekly agronomy conference call Monday morning and Jim Noel, NOAA meteorologist, told us that weather forecasters are calling for a shift in the weather from wetter than average like we had this spring and early summer, to drier than average. That afternoon we got 1.5 inches of rain in Ostrander. It was a little funny at the time, but as I drive around the county and the state there is no doubt that a drier weather pattern did kick in around late June. Noel says that forecasters are predicting that this type of weather pattern will likely continue into August as well. Forecasters are not predicting a drought but are saying that the rainfall will average at or below normal.
I can’t believe that July 4 is here already! Yes, it has been a trying crop season so far, but we have made it to summer. With all the cool wet weather it seems that we didn’t have a spring. But with the heat forecasted for next week it looks like summer is here.
The scouting trips this week have left me fairly optimistic about soybean progress at this time. I know we have a lot of growing season to go but around the county most of the soybean stands look good. However, there are a few soybean stands around the county that appear to have some issues. There are several possibilities for the poor stands including diseases, insects, poor quality seed, or just poor growing conditions.
The weather was beautiful this past week for baling hay, and looks like the crops are almost all in around Delaware County. I’ve been out scouting the wheat fields this past week, and I’ve seen head scab in a few fields and I’ve seen surprising good wheat. The wet and humid spring has made it favorable for head scab. All areas around the state are reporting of head scab in fields.
It is so nice to have the sun shinning for more than one day at a time! Following Ohio’s worst wet spring conditions in more than 100 years farmers across Delaware County are able to get into the fields and continue planting.