Spring planting conditions improve with late winter snow
Area farmers are anxious to get back out into their fields with warmer temperatures returning and the ongoing drought-like conditions we’ve had the past couple of years subsiding. Snowfall over the past week and more rain in the forecast have local growers and producers anticipating a healthier and more prosperous season ahead.
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By Carleen Wild
Moody County Enterprise
The late-winter storm that blew through the region this past week had a number of us grumbling about the change in the weather. We’ve already put our shovels away and searched again for, if not a pair of shorts, perhaps a lighter jacket.
It’s been a pretty mild, easy winter this year to get around.
Local students celebrated a couple extra days of spring break however, as a result of the icy, snowy and windy conditions.
Area farmers also likely considered last week’s precipitation, even in the form of snow, a welcome sight. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows the region now in ‘abnormally dry’ conditions after a tough and very dry 2023. Statewide, regions now considered no-drought increased by 11-percent while abnormally dry areas improved by 10-percent.
Farmers have been grappling with the problems caused by low soil moisture now for years. Reduced yields remain a primary concern for growers. For producers, it’s become the availability of and high cost of feed.
There is optimism though for 2024 and an anticipation of a solid year ahead, especially with warmer temperatures returning in the coming days and the forecast calling for even more precipitation.
