Editors' Notebook

Comments about how much rain certain areas of the country have been getting may seem like a broken record, but that doesn't make them any less valid. Even if it's not flooding the basement or field or sweeping your house or crop away, too much precip can undo lots of hard work (planting) or delay hard work past the optimal time frame.

Jan Layman of Kenton, Ohio, said the rain has been slow and steady in his area. "Here in west-central Ohio, we are continuing to be over watered," he wrote DTN in an email. "About 2/3 finished with sidedressing, but haven't been able to run for about 10 days now. Not a deluge, just 5 or 6/10 every few days. A few guys were able to run some yesterday (Sunday) but rain again overnight."

Still, Layman is not complaining. "Still feel fortunate here, though have some friends in eastern Indiana really struggling with planting. As of June 1, they were only 50% on corn, and less on beans. It is getting late this far north, now. Just need some heat and sun here now."

Which brings us to prevented planting dates. If growers haven't planted by these dates, they must decide whether to take prevented planting payments or plant later and perhaps receive reduced insurance guarantees under late planting rules. Prevented planting dates vary by state and county, so DTN has compiled the following links for you to check out the situation in the Corn Belt. (And by "DTN" I mean DTN's Cash Grains Analyst Mary Kennedy, who did all the work of compiling these links. Thanks Mary!)

Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin

http://www.rma.usda.gov/…

Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming

http://www.rma.usda.gov/…

Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado

http://www.rma.usda.gov/…

Illinois

Corn: http://www.rma.usda.gov/…

Soybeans: http://www.rma.usda.gov/…

Indiana

Corn: http://www.rma.usda.gov/…

Soybeans: http://www.rma.usda.gov/…

Michigan

Corn: http://www.rma.usda.gov/…

Soybeans: http://www.rma.usda.gov/…

Ohio

Corn: http://www.rma.usda.gov/…

Soybeans:

http://www.rma.usda.gov/…

A COUPLE OTHER REGIONAL COMMENTS

Doug Zillinger of Logan in north-central Kansas wrote DTN: "Milo, beans, and some corn are going in the ground as fast as we can get it there in our area. Last night (Sunday) is the first night we haven't had a 0.1 to 0.6 inch shower to work around, but we need the rain and are glad to work around it. Wheat is coming on fast and alfalfa that wasn't down through the showers of the last three weeks will be going down fast this week. Green is a good color even if it is weeds!"

Crawford McFetridge, Finger Lakes region, New York

"Last week was the mud bowl. Things are drying out but not enough yet. Missed the first 1 inch of rain -- it went east. This afternoon is a different story. The wind is still blowing. Add daytime heating! We could get a lot of rain and everyone gets a vacation. There is still a lot of unworked ground. And a lot of just-started ground ... ready to plant. Here is a fun fact. One acre inch of rain water weighs 100 ton. Until I found that out I could never understand how something like rain could compact soil hard. There is the reason. A few years ago we had a flash drought most of the summer. Usually in the fall discing the pumpkin patch was in hard ground. The drought year it was soft and disced like spring. So don't blame all of your compaction problems on equipment only. Some of the blame needs to go on those 1 inch plus rains in 20 minutes. Now to make it dry through today and tomorrow. I feel rain. Lots of it."

John Moore, Manhattan, Illinois

"1.6 inches of rain yesterday (Sunday) and a two-week forecast that shows nothing but rain, really puts a damper on any kind of field work this week. Need to get hay cut and finish planting a few acres of beans. Kinda looking like last year all over again at this time. Hurry up and wait."

THE BEST LAID PLANS...

Last week I didn't get a blog entry posted. I took some time off to supervise a family garage sale at my home. But I still received some email comments from readers I thought were very interesting. So I'm posting them today. Keep in mind, everything from here on was received via email June 1 and 2.

Scott Wallis, southwestern tip of Indiana

"The weather man was wrong almost every day last week and that was a good thing. Rain was forecasted to start on Memorial Day and last until Saturday. We received 0.1-0.2 on Memorial Day and then no more rain at all until Saturday afternoon which gave us 0.3-0.8 -- a really nice rain. We have all the sidedressing done except 100 acres; think we can do that today (Tuesday, June 2) or tomorrow. It was a big week for most farmers to finish any corn and beans they had left to plant. The weekend was cool which has paled some of the corn acres; we could use some heat just to perk things up."

Pete Bardole, west-central Iowa

"There are still a few beans left to go in here, corn and beans that are planted have emerged and would like some sun and warmth. Most of the corn looks yellow we just need some sun we don't seem to get more than one or two days at a time."

Dan Hiller, Hardin County, Ohio (Monday)

"Planting is almost completed around here. Few fields of beans yet to plant. It was getting dry until we got almost 2 inches of rain in the last 5 days of May. That leaves us about an inch below normal for May. Lots of corn has been sidedressed. Most crops are looking good to excellent. But there will be a few drowned-out spots following the rain. The standing water is due to compaction rather than the ground being saturated." (Received Monday, June 1)

Gerald Gauck, Ripley County, Indiana

"We've had a wonderful rain this weekend; we were needing it. Good timing. The corn and soybeans look fantastic for this time of the year. Long time to go yet, so far so good." (Received Monday, June 1)

Mark Israel, southern Georgia

"We're right in the middle of wheat harvest. My family also owns a farm supply that gives me a little better opportunity to see what other farmers in my area are doing. Some are still planting peanuts and cotton although it's getting late. Some are beginning to plant soybeans behind wheat. We had a pretty good size storm yesterday (May 31) that delayed planting and harvesting for a few days. Had some irrigations blown over and assorted other damage to crops. Hopefully by the end of the week we will be able to resume harvest." (Received Monday, June 1)

John Moore, Manhattan, Illinois

"Got within 30 acres of finishing planting conventional beans before last weekend's rain. Some of those acres need to have hay cut off of them first. So I guess you could say that conventional planting is pretty well wrapped up. Cut my first field of hay this morning. Hoping that there is enough dry weather to get it up before the next round of rain comes or there will be a lot of hungry horses in my neck of the woods. The barn is empty and customers are calling all hours of the day for hay." (Received Monday, June 1)

If you would like to join our email group of readers, send me a note at cheri.zagurski@dtn.com.

(AG)

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