USDA’s Joint Ag Weather Facility says in the Corn Belt, showers are developing across the upper Midwest, where more than three-quarters of the pastures were rated in very poor to poor condition on Sept. 9 in Nebraska (97% very poor to poor), Iowa (77%) and South Dakota (76%). “The rain is causing only minor fieldwork delays,” USDA adds.
In the West, USDA says scattered showers linger, mainly in the Four Corners states. “Meanwhile, dry weather is promoting Northwestern small grain planting,” USDA explains. On Sept. 9, Washington led the nation with 31% of its winter wheat planted, slightly ahead of the five-year average of 30%, according to USDA.
On the Plains, USDA reports cool weather is returning to northern areas. “Meanwhile, highly beneficial showers in the vicinity of a cold front stretch from the central High Plains to the middle Missouri Valley,” USDA says. Winter wheat planting is off to a slow start, behind the five-year average in all seven major production states on the Plains, USDA elaborates. “On Sept. 9, planting progress was more than five percentage points behind the average in Colorado (0% planted versus the average of 13%), Nebraska (8% vs. 16%), and South Dakota (8% vs. 14%),” USDA details.
In the South, USDA says warm, dry weather prevails, except for isolated showers across Florida’s peninsula and along the Gulf Coast. “Harvest activities are ongoing for a variety of summer crops,” USDA adds.
In its outlook, USDA says the interaction between a cold front and a late-season monsoon surge will result in showers and thunderstorms across the central and southern Plains and parts of the Midwest. “Showers will also develop in the Gulf Coast region, but dry weather will prevail through week’s end from the Pacific Coast to the northern Plains,” USDA elaborates. A brief cool spell will trail the cold front, but temperatures will quickly rebound to above-normal levels late in the week across the northern Plains and much of the West, according to USDA.
