By: Paul Kassel
The weather has turned really wet in much of my area. We are not use to seeing water running out of fields, water standing, and waterways running full – in mid-November.
I am sure subsoil moisture levels are fully replenished. We had a lot of rain in August and apparently a lot of that moisture contributed to subsoil moisture. There was a really good dry spell from late September to October 23 – that was great for harvest.
The field conditions didn't get really wet until the last few days. I am pretty sure we are done with fall fieldwork – with the recent rain and the predicted snow and cold weather.
I reported earlier that areas of Dickinson and Emmet Counties were on the dry side of things. However, since I took those subsoil moisture samples, Spirit Lake and Estherville have had about two inches of rain – which is more than an inch above normal. So, this rain will be good for that area to replenish subsoil moisture.
The rest of my area is looking really wet. Therefore, even with normal spring weather, we could be seeing some planting delay problems in 2016.
CRD August 15 to November 18 October 23 to November 18
Actual Difference Actual Difference
-------inches----------------- -------inches-----------------
NW 12.2 +4.7 3.2 +2.0
NC 11.1 +2.8 2.6 +1.1
WC 14.5 +6.2 2.9 +1.3
CRD – Crop Reporting District