Above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation has produced a mixed harvest of agricultural impacts across the nation. Farm Director KC Sheperd is featuring comments from USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey to learn more.
Rippey said that while it has been ideal for summer crop dry-down and harvest in most states, it is a major concern for recently planted items like wheat and cover crops. “We have really depleted the topsoil moisture across much of the country outside of the hurricane zones in the southeast,” he allowed. “There are concerns for getting this winter wheat crop established properly before it heads into dormancy in a few more weeks.”
The low water levels in the tributaries of the Mississippi River are also a cause for unease. Rippey explained, “We’ve seen the input declining from the Ohio River, and we still have some decent inflow from the Missouri Valley, but some of the other tributaries are critically low at this point.”
He described a nine-mile stretch along the Illinois River where significant shoaling can be seen. Transportation has been temporarily disrupted in that area.
He described that the five-day forecast indicates continually dry weather across the eastern half of the United States, but expects precipitation to increase in the Western half of the country reaching no further East than the High Plains through the end of the week.
“We are seeing record-setting runs of triple-digit heat extending all the way into Mid-October across the desert southwest; however we are looking toward the Pacific for some signs of significant change coming,” he said. “There is a cold front starting to push its way ashore across the Pacific Northwest, and that is the leading edge of what will be a sharply colder air mass working its way into the Western United States later this week.”
The National Weather Service’s 8 – 14 Day Outlook encompassing October 23 – 29, shows near or above normal temperatures and near or above normal chances of precipitation across the vast majority of the United States. Rippey said, “That will be a big change from what we’ve seen over the last few weeks in terms of the rainfall and snowfall patterns.”
He noted cooler-than-normal temperatures are generally limited to the Pacific Northwest, and a few areas will stay dryer than normal in parts of the southwest and the middle and Northern Atlantic coast.
“At least in this outlook, we have some prospects for improving topsoil moisture as we head toward the end of October,” he added.
