The end of March and early April was met with some eagerness to plant. And as some areas see dry soils, or conditions started to dry out from recent rains, planters have started to roll.
Twitter was full of #plant21 photos over the weekend. From Kansas to Illinois, farmers sowed their first seeds of the 2021 growing season.
Rollin. #beardimplement #caseih #kinze pic.twitter.com/BhByXoGTjD
— Logan White (@flatblackdirt) April 2, 2021
#plant21 officially started today in C2P and the first commercially planted XtendFlex soybeans were the target! AG35XF1’s welcome to northern Greene Co.!! pic.twitter.com/Zv4ix4Qo6l
— Todd Price (@tprice70) March 31, 2021
And here we go #plant21 First #Enlist plot in the ground for 21! @PioneerSeeds @CortevaUS pic.twitter.com/vJof9Iuw39
— Brad Mason (@bsmason12) April 3, 2021
U.S. Farm Report meteorologist Mike Hoffman says milder conditions may stick around for a while, creating an open window to plant, some areas across the Corn Belt could see sporadic chances of rain this week.
“You kind of hoped to start getting in the fields across many parts of the country, but it’s going to depend on where you live,” says Hoffman. “There are going to be some weaker systems but no major rains coming our way and it has warmed up again across most of the country.”
Earliest I have ever planted beans pic.twitter.com/CLec6Sm8He
— Brandon Wood (@BRANDONAWOOD10) April 4, 2021
#plant21 is finally going pic.twitter.com/hT3LPhpk7W
— Matt Swanson (@MaxROIFarmer) April 4, 2021
Started planting corn today, finished nh3, worked a little ground. Nice sunset to a smooth day. pic.twitter.com/xuMpAdCdN7
— Zane Jones (@zane_jones) April 4, 2021
Hoffman says there are some areas where farmers are experiencing wetter than normal conditions. He says Arkansas, Northern Louisiana into the southern Appalachians, as well as parts of the Mid Atlantic are seeing soggy soils.
“There are some new wet areas that popped up over the past couple of weeks anyway, for the West Central Plains,” adds Hoffman. “There are still some wet conditions in parts of the Western Great Lakes, as well.”
Dreary Drought Picture
Hoffman says he’s very concerned at the conditions continuing to worsen on the U.S. drought monitor, especially for the Northern Plains.
“That just looks awful in North Dakota, especially northern parts up along the Canadian border. It’s very, very dry,” says Hoffman.
He says it’s also turned drier in Florida, and there are still dry conditions parked across much of the Northeast.
“And obviously most of the West - where the drought monitor has been the worst-case scenario - is still there,” says Hoffman.
He says if you compare the drought conditions today to a week ago, some areas have improved. That includes the West Central Plains where some farmers saw some moisture over the past couple weeks But overall, Hoffman says the Northern Plains continue to look for moisture.
