(Agriculture.com) – With the exception of a few showers in parts of the region — some of which added up to an inch of rain — the harvest weather window in the central third of the U.S. remains open, keeping corn and soybean harvest progress running along well, while the end of winter wheat planting edges closer in the Plains.
Rain has fallen in the first half of the week, with most of it isolated to the southeastern portion of the Corn Belt, namely southern Indiana where up to 1 inch of rain fell Tuesday, according to Freese-Notis Weather, Inc., meteorologist Wayne Ellis. However, a combination of warm temperatures in that same region and an outlook favoring drier conditions will likely keep any weather delays minimal. Beyond the weekend, most of the Midwest will see average or below-average rain — or snowfall — totals.
“Some rain totals were in the .50- to 1.00-inch range and anywhere from a few hundredths of an inch to .5 inch elsewhere in the rain band,” Ellis says. “A few light showers will fall on Thursday, mostly north and east with a light mix of rain and snow on Friday in the Southern Great Lakes and far eastern areas. The weekend looks dry across the region. The six- to 10-day outlook features above-normal temperatures for the west and near-normal east. Rainfall will be above-normal for roughly the southwest quarter of the region, below normal far northwest, and near normal rain elsewhere.”
The Plains, where farmers are inching closer to the end of wheat planting, will see some showers by midweek next week, but a window of mostly dry weather should get wheat farmers at or near the end of planting.
“The drier pattern in central and western areas will allow fieldwork there to progress well. The drier pattern across the Plains through the weekend will allow winter wheat planting to finish up,” says MDA Weather Services senior ag meteorologist Don Keeney. “However, dryness is building again in western and southern areas, which is stressing wheat growth. A notable upturn in showers is expected in the central and southern Plains next week, though, which would improve moisture and wheat conditions. Continued mild temperatures across the Plains will favor wheat establishment.”
Looking beyond the normal fall harvest window for the Corn Belt, there’s been a noticeable shift in predictions, especially for temperature. A weak El Niño system continues to dominate the southern oscillation index, giving little or no guidance to temperature projections heading into winter. And now, an outlook that a couple of weeks ago featured warmer-than-normal temperatures has that outlook trending the other direction.
“The latest 31- to 60-day temperature outlook has trended cooler across the Midwest, central and northern Plains, and Delta,” Keeney says. “The cooler conditions across the Plains would slow wheat growth and begin to push the crop into dormancy in northern areas.”
