Planting into Dry Soil

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, plant a