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Western Cornbelt planting window likely next week
A University of Missouri climatologist is expecting a solid planting window ahead in the Western Cornbelt.
Pat Guinan tells Brownfield farmers will likely see a move to warmer temperatures next week, starting Sunday, allowing ground to dry out.
“High temperatures in the upper 80s even, perhaps, getting into the 90s,” he said. “And when you approach that in the middle part of May, that’s near-record highs.”
He said three of the last four months have been cooler and wetter than average in Missouri.
Looking further West, Guinan said continued dryness is expected.
“Hopefully, the precipitation will return,” he said. “But, at least according to some of the long-term outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center – especially for the summer, it’s not a really pretty picture.”
But he said dryness in states like Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota likely won’t move eastward with consistent moisture this spring from Minnesota down to Louisiana.
“There’s no real signal or indicator; even though what you see out West,” Guinan said. “[It] does not translate that it’s going to migrate eastward, there’s just really no relationship. I mean, that drought’s been ongoing since last year.”
Guinan said the Climate Prediction Center is forecasting above average temperatures for most of the country this summer.
