POSTAL CUSTOMER
Volume IV, Issue 12
PRSRT STD U.S. Postage Paid Permit #36 OMAHA, NE
December 2010
Looking back on 2010 Farmers face blizzards, record precip and early crop maturity Winter storms blanket western Iowa
Farmers deal with rainy spring
High heat indices in summer
Fall weather ideal for an early harvest
by Emma Struve While most agricultural producers have tabulated the effects of 2010’s wet growing season, the onset of cold weather harkens back to 2009’s long-lived snow cover. State Climatologist Harry Hillaker, with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, recalled that “this time last year there was a ridiculous amount of snow cover that persisted into March.” The 2010 year began in an unseasonably cold weather pattern with poor prospects for spring
planting. As of March 1 Carroll still had 14 inches of snow on the ground, Jefferson 15 inches, Sac City 10 inches, and Atlantic 12 inches. Beneath the snow were saturated soils, Hillaker added, from a wet fall in 2009. He said farmers were thinking, “Is the snow ever going to melt, and if it does are we ever going to be able to do any field work?” Fortunately, rain fell the second week in March, which caused the snow to melt more quickly even than warm air could have. This also harkened the beginning of a warmer than
Converting CRP land into a haven for wildlife . . . . Page 10
Soybeans... pearls from the farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 22
normal trend that would continue for nine months. The final snow event of the season occurred on March 19. Following the final snow, Iowa entered a dry weather pattern that allowed for a “really fabulous planting season that no one would have guessed,” Hillaker stated. In fact, he continued, April tied with 1981 as the fifth warmest on record in 138 years. Additionally, very little severe weather was experienced during the spring. Continued on Page 31
The Farmer’s Wife . . . . . . . . . . .Page 5 Futures Market Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 13 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 27-30