Editors' Notebook

Ding dong, the drought is dead! Which old drought? Well, apparently not the one in Kansas.

Although many parts of the Midwest are not showing anything more than an abnormally dry designation in a few spots, the Drought Monitor map shows a portion of north-central Kansas in abnormally dry to moderate drought classification as of July 7. That's a bitter pill when so much of the rest of the country is complaining about too much moisture.

Doug Zillinger farms in Logan, Kansas, in north-central Kansas, and he says crops there are showing the stress of too little moisture, instead of too much moisture as reported from other areas of the U.S.

"Hot and hotter here in Kansas," he wrote to DTN. "Starting to see the corn, milo, and cane roll up, turn white and then brown. Alfalfa is only growing in the sub-irrigated places in the fields. Grass turned brown two weeks ago.

"Wheat harvest is mostly over with yields all over the board. Looks like 20- to 30-bushel averages might be the norm with an occasional outcrop yield in the single digits or 40s."

South of Logan, in Palco, Kansas, Dana Pieper agreed with Zillinger.

"I know that it seems to be raining everywhere this spring and summer," Pieper wrong, "even in most parts of Kansas. But I'll let you know that in my area of Kansas we are officially burning up!

"We came home on July 3 from the Hereford Jr. National in Grand Island, Nebraska, where it was green and the Platte River was nearly overflowing its banks, to Rooks County, Kansas, where my Bermuda grass in my front yard has gone completely dormant.

"Most watering holes for livestock have dried up and if you don't have a well in your pasture you're hauling water to your cows. The milo is still holding on but there are spots in most fields where some of the milo is turning blue and beginning to shrivel up. Our feed is trying to make a go at it, but if we don't get some rain soon it may be a lost cause.

"The four consecutive days of 100-plus-degree temps that we've had are definitely taking their toll. (This email was written Monday, July 13). We haven't had more than 0.50 inch of moisture at any one time since February (I believe). We have been lucky enough to have received many small rains to keep us going, but now we need something more substantial."

Still, hope springs eternal, especially for farmers. Dana closed with, "The weather forecast this evening for the next couple of days is looking VERY promising! Please pray that we get some of this 'monsoon' moisture!"

At the other end of the scale, we have reports from areas where things are very swampy. Especially in Illinois.

Kenton Thomas farms in Alexander County, at the southern tip of the state. "Finally getting some sunshine here in southern Illinois," he reported. "Crops that are not under water looking much better; but still a lot of water damage."

In northwest Illinois, near the village of Manhattan, John Moore echoed Kenton's comments.

"Still too wet to make hay and not looking good until next week," he emailed DTN on Monday. "Quite a few hay fields laying wasted on the ground and a lot of customers waiting for deliveries when we do get some put up.

"Corn and bean fields are looking better here in northeastern Illinois. However, I think the great yield potential will never catch up in those areas that were waterlogged for so long.

"Last week saw a lot of replanted pond holes in bean fields but with the weekend rains those pond holes are filling back up. Color in the fields is looking better. Could be an interesting ride in the combine come fall with all the ruts that have been made just trying to get sidedressing and spraying done. Bean fields are looking pretty messy with weeds because everyone is so far behind."

Also in northern Illinois, near Sterling, Keith Landis wrote, "Some fields look beautiful and others look pretty sad (wet). Some corn is beginning to tassel, a few beans are beginning to bloom, the wheat is about ready with reports of vomitoxin in it and it continues to be too wet for much of anything including hay making."

East of Illinois, in Indiana, there are some well-hydrated areas, too. Scott Wallis farms in the southwestern tip of the state and he wrote, "We sit between four rivers here in southwest Indiana; three of those rivers have been out of their banks now just about a month.

"The flooded ground has just about run out of time for a last-chance planting. We were going to replant all the way until the last few days of July, that is less than three weeks away with water still out that's a real challenge.

"On the bright side in the last couple of weeks we have had only about 1.5 inches; you don't have to go very far and they have had 3-5. The crops not affected by the flood look real good. Biggest concern I have is leached nitrogen; there are some signs of that starting to show. Time will only tell."

Near Starbuck, Minnesota, Dave Tollefson said an inch or two of rain would be welcome now as it's been a while since that area has seen precip.

"Last evening (Sunday) we were inundated with tornado warnings, etc., from texts, emails, home telephone recorded messages, and TV crawls on the bottom of the screen," he wrote DTN. "All for zero rain, and luckily, no wind or hail. We could have used a nice inch, since it's been getting warmer. The last meaningful rain we had was 0.44 inch on June 22.

"Last night severe weather was north of us 10 miles or so in the Lowry, Minnesota, area, with downed corn and other damage. Not sure how much rain they got. Parts of the area west of Lowry had severe hail about a week ago -- just a small area, but heavy damage.

"Overall, the crops look pretty good, with corn soon ready to tassel and the beans flowering. Only a few guys north of here have had to spray for aphids, which is a couple weeks early according to the crop consultant in the Hoffman, Minnesota, area."

And finally, in the northeastern U.S., Crawford McFetridge reports the Finger Lakes area of New York continues wet.

"We have had a few dry days," he wrote. "Getting ready for this Monday rain storm. Why are they called storms? The rains we have got the last 2 or 3 weeks usually come so quiet that you hear the rain hitting the ground. It dumps its load. Usually 1/2 inch or a whole lot more. Then goes away.

"Then you have the waters. Standing, sitting, and waiting for Scotty to beam me up (evaporation). I have some of those Scotty puddles. When the water evaporates out of that cluster of small wet holes, then it is time to look at working on my land. The puddles and the farm are 6 miles apart. When the water is gone and one more day you are usually good to work the fields. Well this year those puddles dried up twice for a day or two. Then the rain would fill them to the top.

"... On my trip to the FSA office last week, there was a field of cabbage from no plants, to plants that are alive but will never head, to plants that will head and never be harvested because it's too small. Maybe a quarter of it might get harvested. This field belongs to a grower who grows many thousands to tons of market cabbage every year. So that 40 acres is a little short this year.

"Around here there is a lot of corn that is waist high and getting ready to tassel. Now to get ready for today's rain and tomorrow it is to rain all day. Cold Pepsi and a comfortable chair anyone?"

If you'd like to join our group of reader reporters, send me a note at cheri.zagurski@dtn.com

(AG)

(AG)

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