Linda H. Smith, Top Producer Executive Editor
“Significant river flooding will continue for at least another week, although the floods will move downstream through the middle and eventually the lower Mississippi River Basins,” says Drew Lerner of World Weather in Kansas City. “The most severely flooded areas will require a week or two of no rain before fields could be accessible. It is unlikely some of the worst impacted areas will see any planting or replanting now because of the lateness of the season.
Furthermore, not only will more rain come to the already-wet heartland in the next week, but temperatures will remain well below normal all week long across the Corn Belt, reports Allen Motew, meteorologist with QT. Weather. This will not help late-planted corn catch up.
“Our satellite-generated Greenness maps show that portions of Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois and Indiana still have rather low biomass for June,” adds Fred Gesser, chief meteorologist for Planalytics in Wayne, Pa. “The lack of greenness means corn development is less than the V4 to V8 leaf development stage and/or soybean emergence is running 15% to 30% behind the 5-year average. Corn and soybeans, especially in Minnesota and northern Iowa, will be vulnerable to damage with a normal freeze and an early freeze could be catastrophic.
“Early frost and freezes are not currently anticipated, but the Northern Hemisphere remains cooler than recent past years and if significant warming fails to evolve this summer, it would be easier for a strong surge of cold air to have an impact on crops,” Lerner adds.
For More Information
Read the Renewable Fuels Association’s take on the flooding situation: Midwest Flood’s Impact Uncertain
Read AgWeb.com’s Flood Coverage
You can e-mail Linda Smith at lsmith@farmjournal.com.
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This article appeared in the June 19 issue of Top Producer’s Moneywise eNewsletter. To sign up for a free subscription, click here.
