Moisture is the most significant ingredient in agriculture, and today there’s a wide disparity in Allen County.
In the northwest part generous amounts of rain have fallen in the past month, while along its southern border pasture grass is next to dormant and pond levels are starting to fall.
The Register checked in with three farmers — Dale Daniels, southeast of Humboldt; Dick Sutherland, in the Iola area; Dave Bedenbender, in the northwest corner.
Drier weather has permitted Daniels to get all of his corn in and he did it late enough a heavy frost early the morning of April 15 didn’t have an effect.
“It’s all up,” Daniels said, with most having put on two leaves, but he hasn’t yet seen a third. Third-leaf stage indicates the root system is maturing.
Daniels finished planting corn about April 10 and has not had to replant.
“Some around here was up when we got the freeze and I saw some that was laid down to the ground, but it’s come back,” he said, noting that soil temperature was high enough to prevent invasive freezing that would have affected root systems.
Daniels’ only weather concern at the moment is forecast of a short cold spell late this coming week. The National Weather Service predicts nighttime lows of 40 degrees. Temperatures would have to dip well into the 30s to pose any danger.
While corn is up and growing, “we still need a good rain before long,” Daniels said. “Some of the ponds are starting to drop and the pastures aren’t growing, not even the fescue,” a cool-season grass.
Thursday’s rainfall totaled about .65 of an inch in south Allen, a bit of a blessing but not nearly enough.
Dick Sutherland said his and other farmers’ corn in the Iola area was in the ground, up and growing.
“Some of it came up uneven,” because of weather conditions, “but you couldn’t tell it now,” he said.
Rain hereabouts was more generous, four to six inches in the last three-plus weeks, and enough to kick-start corn.
“We’re in good shape moisture-wise,” Sutherland said, but the day isn’t far off when more rain will be welcome.
Some of Sutherland’s corn in low-lying areas was washed out. He has it all replanted.
Bedenbender said about 60 percent of his corn crop was planted, and all would have been except for torrential rainfall that came early in the month in the Neosho Falls and Geneva areas. That led to seed washing out on bottomland.
