Grain harvest has started but many areas have low soil moisture. Planting grains or a cover crops into dry soil can be difficult. The crop may germinate but may not grow or survive if adequate moisture is hard to obtain. Here are some planting considerations if your soil is dry and you are trying to plant another crop. First, the goal is to conserve moisture. No-till grains like wheat or rye or even other cover crops will help conserve moisture. Tilled soils lose about .5-1.0 inch of soil water. Most wheat and cover crops need at least 35%-45% soil moisture to germinate. A worst-case scenario is if just enough moisture causes seed to germinate, but then not enough to keep it alive. If your soil is really dry, either plant before a good rain or right after one. If planting deep, a hard rain may cause the soil to crust. This would be less of an issue in no-till fields than fields that are excessively worked, where the soil is fine, which tends to crust more. Second, for wheat, plan...

  In 2023, Ohio experienced the 6th driest May since the 1930’s Dust Bowl. The combination of cool May weather and mostly dry soil conditions delayed crop germination and has reduced crop growing conditions. Crops are already struggling to grow. Several factors are contributing to this dilemma. First, the switch from a La Nina weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean to an El Nino usually means drier weather conditions in the Midwest. When La Nina’s are strong and long, you can expect a stronger El Nino pattern. El Nino’s may last 1-3 years on average. Most weather experts expected drier conditions in late summer and early fall, but dry weather came earlier than expected! Second, along with weather patterns, solar sunspot activity is at a higher intensity. Solar sunspots normally peak about every 11 years with a solar sunspot peak expected in 2025. The last few solar sunspot activity cycles have been mild to average, but the sunspot intensity is much higher this time around. There is a...