Rain Rain Go Away

Man it feels good to be done planting and seeding this spring.  Corn and soybeans were planted in late April, early May.  And after a bit of cool weather are now up and growing well.  Then, I was waiting on approval of my application to enroll some land in the Conservation Reserve Program.  In mid May, I received word from the USDA Farm Service Agency office that the enrollment was approved.  But in the meantime, it started to rain and about 2 weeks ago we received more than 4 inches of rain.The bottom land flooded, and now it was time to wait for it to dry out before it could be worked up and seeded.

Flooded ground dries out in unevenly.  It some areas it crusts over and the top inch dries out, but underneath it is very soft and mushy.  Or in some cases, the top layer dries out enough for a tractor to drive over it, but it gets very sticky or gummy.  And where the river overflowed on the land, there often are sand and silt deposits.  These act like quicksand.  They get crusty on top, but when you break through, a tractor can sink a foot or more very quickly.

But thanks to a couple 90+ degree days and some wind, the bottom fields dried out enough that I could start to work up those fields.  Brent and I did about 35 acres on Saturday (June 4). And we worked up about all that was dry enough to drive across.  On Monday (June 6) I disked about 40 acres and got those acres seeded.  That was not without some moments, though.  I was working around a wet spot and hit one of those silted/sandy spots.  I sink.  And the dual tires on the disk start pushing mud, making it even more of a load to try and pull out of the mud.  I worked the tractor back and forth about a dozen times, and finally I got enough traction to drive out of that spot.  I was sure glad I did not get stuck or have to unhitch the disk from the tractor and "chain" it out.

On Tuesday (June 7) I was able to disk the remaining 35 acres and get them seeded.  The last 14 acres had several wet spots and a number of places were the soil was very sticky and would plug up the seeder with mud balls.  About every other round I would have to clean at least one or two seed tubes.  Not a big deal, just another hassle of dealing with ground that was not "quite fit" but I wanted to get done before the next rain came.

And the rains have come.  By Wednesday night, a lot more rain was falling across Iowa.  Luckily, the farm has only received about 2 inches.  A few miles north of me, they had 6 to 8 inches of rain this week, and it is still raining.  Fields that were looking very good, now have large ponded areas.  Not good for the corn or soybeans in those fields.  But I am glad to be done seeding the bottom fields.  With the recent rain, it would likely be a week or two before I would get back into those fields. 

Thursday morning saw another weather adventure unfold.  Strong storms rolled across southern Iowa.  As I was getting out of bed, the TV weather guy reported that there was a strong thunderstorm with hail at the junction of US 65 and US 34 where Whitebreast creek turns north. That's just great I thought -- that is right over my farm.  Later Thursday afternoon, I went down to the farm and checked the crops.  Luckily, there was no damage to the corn or soybeans from whatever hail or storms that had passed through.  It is a long season ahead yet.  Many more times to look at the sky and wonder what will come next.

Dealing with weather -- Lessons in patience.

Rain is a necessary component of growing good crops in Iowa.  But, rain is also my nemesis when it comes to planting.  Last week, the farm received more than 4 inches of rain.  And Whitebreast Creek ran bankfull and more.  Needless to say, the bottom fields that I still have to seed to grass this year were inundated and I sit paitently (or not so patiently, in reality) waiting for a stretch of dry weather so that the land will dry out enough to till and plant.  Yesterday, I went down to the farm hoping that the fields would be dry enough since the last rain was on Sunday.  Unfortunately, dry is not the adjective I would use to describe those fields. 

I put the pick-up in 4-wheel drive, and drove out across the bottomlands.  I stopped and walked out across the field.  My shoes were making imprints in the field -- that is not a good sign in untilled ground.  I got back into the pickup to check the east side of the field.  About 2/3 of the way across the field, I could tell I was beginning to spin the wheels of the truck a bit.  Discretion being the greater part of valor (and not wanting to get stuck in the mud with no one to help pull me out) I turned around - or at least tried to turn around.  As I did so, the truck started to spin more and I was hitting 50 on the speedometer, but going about 10 miles per hour.  I cut some pretty deep tracks getting out of there, but thankfully, I did not get stuck. 


About this time, it began to rain -- I was really hoping for some 90 degree weather and clear skies, but that was not to be.  Received about a quarter inch of rain.  so for now, more patience.

Do I dare get my hopes up?  The forecast is calling for some nice warm, dry days on Friday and Saturday, before another chance of showers, and then a 3 or 4 day streak of dry weather.  Maybe I can finish seeding the grass next week.  I sure hope so since I have other commitments the following week which will prevent me from doing any farm work for at least 10 days.

Despite all these challenges, there is good news.  The corn and soybeans that were planted in early May look very good.  As with most crops in Iowa, they could use some heat units -- it has been quite cool for most of May.  But hope springs eternal, and "If the creek don't rise"  -- but wait, that was the problem -- the creek did rise -- and now I wait.