Finally....... A break in the weather

Planting-
I would file our recent weather under the category of too little too late. We finally have had a string of 4 or 5 nice days with only a little precipitation falling but, unfortunately for many of our farmers, it came at the wrong time of the year. All of the crops that are going to be planted this year have all but been planted and now producers are trying to figure out just how much insurance is going to cover.

I still do not have a good feel for how much of our crops went un-planted and what portion was planted and eventually drowned out, but I would venture to guess that about 1/3 of the acres that were intended to go into production this year would fall into one of these two categories.

Forages-
On a brighter note, many of the forage fields that didn't get flooded out or only partially got flooded out are starting to be cut for hay. These fields should produce quite a bit of hay this year which is good after many hay reserves got depleted after the long, drawn-out winter we just experienced.

Crops-
The crops that did get seeded and did not get flooded out are just now starting to look very good. Small grains are really starting to green up and grow, what corn was planted has emerged and is looking good as well and ditto for the sugarbeets. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the growing season plays out weather-wise and how these crops end up producing.

Pests-
So far, our primary pest issues are strictly related to weed control problems. Because of less-than-ideal field conditions followed by less-than-ideal weather and wind events, much of the spring weed spraying has not been accomplished.

As our wheat continues to grow and we approach flowering, scouting will have to be done to watch for fusarium head blight. According to the Fusarium Head Blight Risk Assessment Tool we are having optimum conditions for the development of the disease.