USDA’s Joint Ag Weather Facility says in the Corn Belt, producers are resuming fieldwork in some areas, amid mostly dry weather and a gradual warming trend. “However, a few rain showers are spreading across the western Corn Belt,” it adds. By May 21, corn planting was at least 90% complete in several states, including Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri, USDA details.
In the West, USDA reports cool conditions prevail in most areas. However, dry, breezy weather is a threat with respect to the threat of wildfire activity in the Southwest, it explains. “Meanwhile, warmth is returning to the Pacific Northwest,” USDA continues.
On the Plains, USDA says mostly dry weather is promoting fieldwork, including corn, cotton, peanut and sunflower planting. “Cool temperatures prevail over most areas, but hot weather across the southern High Plains favors early-season winter wheat harvesting,” USDA details. On May 21, the wheat harvest was 20% complete in Texas, compared to the five-year average of 7%, it continues.
In the South, USDA reports mild, dry weather favors a limited return to fieldwork, following recent downpours. “On May 21, the winter wheat harvest was 24% complete in Georgia, along with 16% in Louisiana; 6% in Alabama; 4% in Mississippi; 2% in Arkansas; and 1% in South Carolina,” according to USDA.
In its five-day outlook, USDA says a quick-hitting showers and thunderstorms will spread eastward from the nation’s midsection, reaching the Ohio Valley on Saturday and subsequently moving into the South and East. Five-day rainfall totals could reach 1 to 3 inches in a broad area stretching from southern and eastern Texas into the Northeast, USDA elaborates. “In contrast, mostly dry weather will prevail across Florida’s peninsula, the northern High Plains, and the Pacific Coast States,” it continues. Meanwhile, warmth will continue to build across the Far West during the weekend and early next week, but cool air will again settle across the Midwest, according to USDA.
