Weather scares surface for 2018

Producers have plenty of things to watch this time of year including the weather.

Many eyes are on South America as the Brazilian soybean crop went in late and the second crop of corn and cotton has been delayed.

“The later they plant that second crop, the more risk there is,” Meteorologist Eric Snodgrass said at this week’s All Day Ag Outlook Meeting at the Beef House.

Argentina has seen very little rainfall in the last 90 days along with higher than normal temperatures. They are between 150 and 200 millimeters short of rain for the past few months. Argentina is at the end of the growing season and past the point of saving the first crop, in Snodgrass’s opinion.

Here at home, the Dakotas are in the middle of a blizzard. Snodgrass notes a late winter or early spring snow tends to push that area of the U.S. toward several prevent plant acres. The March through May projection for the Dakotas is near average to slightly below average temperatures.

“We’ve got to keep a close eye on that,” Snodgrass said.

South of that region, several states are dealing with drought conditions. Snodgrass does not see any major changes to bring precipitation to Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas in the next month. This includes hard red winter wheat country.

“We don’t have a spot across the country where wheat is doing well.”

Snodgrass admits spring rains can undo all of “winter’s sins.” He hopes growers pay close attention to the forecast in early June, which is when there is a transition in weather patterns. The European weather model is picking up on a hot, dry bias for Illinois, Iowa and Indiana this summer. This means a ridge event could build in the central U.S. which tends to block moisture.