Weather continues to cause crop delays

Weather problems continue to delay the development of Nebraska's corn and soybean crops, according to the Nebraska Weather and Crop report for the week ending June 22.

Rain, below-normal temperatures and hail continue to put barriers on the year's corn and soybean crop development, according to the report.

The state corn crop was rated 70 percent good or excellent, which is below last year's 85 percent good or excellent rating. The report said dryland corn, at 75 percent good or excellent, was doing better, with struggling irrigated fields, which were rated 66 percent good or excellent.

Soybeans, rated at 69 percent good or excellent, were also below last year's rating of 85 percent. Farmers in southeast Nebraska were still behind in getting their soybeans planted due to continued weather problems. The report estimated the crop 11 days behind in its development based on the five-year average.

Sorghum, which was rated 67 percent good or excellent, is below last year's 73 percent good or excellent.

And weather continues to be a problem for area farmers as heavy rains, for a second straight night, caused the National Weather Service to issue a flash flood warning for northern Adams County and southern Hall County on Tuesday morning.

According to the National Weather Service in Hastings, 1 to 4 inches fell in southern Hall and northern Adams counties overnight into Tuesday morning.

It was the second straight day that heavy rain and hail hit that area.

The runoff from the heavy rainfall was causing area creeks and streams to rise, flooding low-lying areas.

The National Weather Service in Hastings also issued a flood warning for southern Buffalo County Tuesday morning.

The National Weather Service, as of 7 a.m. Tuesday, reported 1.87 inches of rain at the Hastings Airport, 1.98 inches of rain at the Kearney Airport; and 0.27 of an inch at the Grand Island Airport.

Volunteer weather reporters for the Nebraska Rain Assessment Information Network reported Tuesday morning these area rainfall amounts: Miller, 0.5 miles southeast, 3.07 inches; Wood River, 2.9 miles south, 2.57 inches; Kearney, 2 miles northwest, 2.25 inches; Cairo, 2.5 miles north, 1.19 inches; and Scotia, 8.4 miles north northeast, 1.05 inches.

The National Weather Service forecast calls for a chance of thunderstorms and showers through the week.

Al Dutcher, University of Nebraska-Lincoln's state climatologist, said most of Nebraska has seen above-normal precipitation and below-normal temperatures this summer, and July forecasts show equal chances of those trends continuing.

Dutcher said most of the state has gone six straight months with below-normal temperatures and significant precipitation.

"We're at a point where we really need to see some good, dry weather," Dutcher said. "The eastern two-thirds to three-fourths of the state has a full soil moisture profile."

Dutcher said only 25 percent of the crop emerged before normal emerging time, with the next 25 percent one to six days behind normal, the following 25 percent six to 11 days behind normal and the remainder 11 to 20 days behind normal.

"If temperatures consistently run below normal, we would expect that at the earliest, we are going to see the crop come into pollination somewhere around mid-July, with 50 percent of the crop behind that," he said.

But what concerns Dutcher is that July and August are the state's hottest months of the year.

"Because of all this moisture, if we don't start seeing periodic dry weather, we're going to have shallow rooting in our crops," he said. "A brief, intense heat wave can inflict more damage than it normally would."

Dutcher said that if all the moisture the crop needs is being supplied at the surface, there is no reason for that crop to grow roots more than a couple of feet deep. Roots need to grow down 4 to 5 feet.

"The next thing we'll have to worry about is where crops will stand as far as freeze damage," he said. "If we don't see a normal temperature trend, that is something we'll have to pay attention to."