Editors' Notebook

DECATUR, Ill. (DTN) -- There's a popular little children's ditty that partly goes:

Whether the weather be cold,
Or whether the weather be hot,
We'll weather the weather,
Whatever the weather,
Like it or not!

Weather was definitely on the minds of the DTN email group as we head into the last half of May.

It's hot and dry in Sumter County, Georgia. The 90-degree temps had Mark Israel mopping his brow and hoping for a shower when he emailed us May 18. He said farmers there were finishing up side-dressing corn, but still have about a third of their peanuts and about half of their cotton to plant.

Meanwhile, Bob Birdsell would love to have a little of that warmth and dry weather in northwest Missouri. It was a lovely 39 degrees Fahrenheit and his fields received from 2 to 4 inches of rain over the weekend that caused some flooding and road closures. They are calling for rain again and he was giving thanks for having cattle to work with to keep his mind off the crop situation.

In west-central Iowa, Pete Bardole also is dealing with wet fields. "We still have about 200 acres of soybeans to put in soon as it dries out. We raise seed beans, and the last I heard, 60 acres of that seed was not here yet for us to plant. We had plus or minus 2 inches of rain over the weekend and we were not dry before that. I was hoping to be able to spay by tomorrow (Wednesday), but they are calling for more rain, so it doesn't look good for that."

Bardole added "there is a little corn left and I would say 20% of the soybeans yet to plant."

Scott Wallis was also waiting for dry weather in southwest Indiana near Princeton. He was about a day away from being dry enough to run after receiving almost 2 inches of rain on Mother's Day weekend. He got another 1 to 1.5 inches on Sunday and Monday that set him back again. "This area could use a nice 10-day dry period to finish up planting and get started on side-dressing," he said.

On the other side of the state, Gerald Gauck in Ripley County, Indiana, found a gentle 0.60 inch of rain to be just what the corn ordered. He said corn in southeastern Indiana is up and a few neighbors still have some soybeans to plant, but otherwise thumbs up.

John Moore hoped to start planting soybeans this week in northeastern Illinois. He missed most of the rains this weekend, so things are finally starting to dry up enough for fieldwork. "Corn is coming up nicely. Now it needs some warm sunshine to bring it out of its yellow-looking color. Would like to think about cutting our first hay, but wet soil and cool temps have me leery," said Moore, who farms near Manhattan.

In extreme southern Illinois, Kenton Thomas got to run for three days last week planting soybeans and get some nitrogen on corn before getting rained out Friday. Another 1 to 4 inches of rain this past weekend will keep him out of the fields for a bit.

There's one word for conditions in southeast South Dakota: cold. Carl Eliason reported that corn there is up and stands are near perfect. Soybeans are also 95% planted, but they may need coats this week as temperatures are to drop near or below freezing.

David Tollefson reported he's also shivering in Pope County, Minnesota, near Starbuck. Frost was likely there this week if skies clear and winds go down. He saw a few flakes of snow along with drizzle and light rain this week. Rainfalls of 4 to 7 inches were reported in his area. "Some of it came too fast and the tiles could not keep up with it," he said. "With a lot of corn emerging, we'll see how the low spots that have standing water come through," he said. He added that a lot of soybeans are in the ground, but very few have emerged.

Phil Carter in western Michigan reported missing the stormy weather, but the weekend was humid and warm. However, the weather is causing a great concern for fire blight threatening the family's apple trees. It's "a bacterial disease that will turn a tree into looking like you took a torch to it," Carter explained. "Streptomycin is a control for it, but many strains have become resistant to strep. Fire blight thrives in temps over 70 degrees, humid and wet conditions and is a concern during blossom. Trauma such as hail or high winds also triggers fire blight and it will wipe out newly-planted trees."

The weather has allowed other work to continue on the Carter farm. "Corn continues to go in the ground. Cherry blossoms are falling and most apples are in full bloom this past week," Carter said. "Now we are focusing on chemical thinning to decrease the crop load on the trees and promote a larger-sized fruit. And we are bracing for much cooler weather this week. The asparagus picking crews will welcome slower growth; many have been working 12-16 hours a day every day to keep up. Labor shortage continues to be a major issue here."

So where is the garden spot where everyone is happy -- weather or not? It seems to be Ohio this week. Perry Buxton still has 100 acres of corn and 2,000 acres of soybeans left to plant, but the first big rain delay didn't come until last Saturday with over 2 inches of rain. He was getting ready to side-dress corn and was happy with the way the corn was looking.

The 2015 season has been rolling along for Jan Layman in west-central Ohio. "One of the nicest planting seasons we've had in several years," said Layman. "Started planting May 1 and finished corn and beans May 14. Just a couple of little showers held us out one day. Actually got kind of dry by the end. Last year finished corn June 1 and beans June 28." A nice 1- to 1.5-inch shower over the weekend had Layman feeling good and getting ready to start side-dressing.

Pam Smith can be reached at pam.smith@dtn.com

If you'd like to participate in DTN's reader email group send Cheri Zagurski a note at cheri.zagurski@dtn.com

(ES/AG)

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