News
Rain forecast in SD but too late for most crops
South Dakota’s climatologist says 94% of the state is in some form of drought and as this week goes on, there’s a 20 to 40% chance for rain.
Laura Edwards – on the South Dakota State Extension Drought Hour today,
“There are more than a few acres of corn and soybeans that are starting to turn already where corn’s already drying down, husks are drying, ears are dropping. Soybeans are starting to turn color already. So, for some of those fields, you know, it’s probably a little too late.”
She says the rain will be spread out, if it happens, and not just one big event, so it might have some benefits, “Hopefully others, if it’s still green out there, hopefully can hold yield of what we have left – of what we have out there and kind of stop the bleeding, in a way, with this rainfall and these cooler temperatures that we’re seeing.”
She says Monday (today) is the peak of hot temperatures for a while. Edwards says it’s impossible to know when the drought will end but she says the best chance for soils to be replenished would be next spring at the earliest.
