More rain needed to ease farmers' drought concerns

Lawns turned from soft emerald green to crunchy cornflake brown over the past couple of weeks as precipitation was as hard to come by as a steak at a Vegan rally.
Farmers are experiencing a stressful time as the heat and drought are playing havoc with crops. Unless rain falls soon, it could be too late to revive some plants.
"Crops are always subject to the weather," said Scott Dubbeldee, the General Manager of Farmers Cooperative Elevator in Hanley Falls. "We all do our best to remember the Serenity Prayer; thus, what we can control and cannot control."
Farmers were able to get their crops planted early this spring and have been eagerly anticipating a great fall harvest. But that excitement is beginning to wane with a lack of precipitation.
"Drought is a definite test, physically and mentally, but there's not a lot you can do," said Ross Eischens, who farms near St. Leo. "I try not to obsess over the weather too much, it seems to add to the stress. But when a pop-up shower or storm appears it's hard not to watch the skies and radar and see if you might get lucky and catch a bit of rain."
In June, 10 of the first 11 days had a high temperature in the 90s. Combine that with a severe lack of rain and it becomes troubling to a farmer.
"The current drought and heat wave has taken its toll on the crops; some fields more than others," said Dubbeldee. "The jury is always out on harvest volumes until the crop is in the bin. But we need some rain soon to keep us cautiously optimists for harvest. It is very dry in most of our territory."
We also had a dry 2020, but with 2018 and 2019 having above normal wetness, we were able to draw from the bank of moisture from those years.
A dry winter has now carried into 2021. We have yet to see an inch of rain in any single day so far in April, May or June.According to Tim DeVlaeminck, the Water/Wastewater Operator for the Minneota who has taken precipitation measurements for the National Weather Service for the past 22 years, Minneota had three consecutive days from April 7-9 that had between .75 and .91 of rain. Since then, though, there has been only two days with more than 1/2 inch of rain in a single day.
"Right now, things are hanging in there fairly well, but we can't go much longer without rain and not expect some serious impacts on production," Eischens explained. "The crops are good at sending roots deep in search of whatever moisture they can find, but there was not much substitute moisture to start the year and I'm afraid it will run out before too long. As the crop grows, its water needs increase."
The skies darkened over the weekend in many parts of southern and central Minnesota, bringing hope to farmers and property owners. But the floodgates never opened and only .08 fell in Minneota.
"We all worry about the weather," said Dubbeldee. "We can't help it. Crops are farmers and the related businesses livelihood. A financially healthy farming community is good for all parts of our local communities."
Seems we got July's weather in early June. With the high heat and low humidity that we've been getting, it makes matters only worse on a daily basis.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) measures a drought in five categories. The lowest two levels, which are Abnormally Dry and Moderate Drought cover most of the state right now. That's the time when lawns turn brown and communities place water restrictions, which is what MInneota and many others did recently.
The third level set by USDA is Severe Drought, which is beginning to appear in southern Minneota. This occurs when lakes, rivers and ponds begin to show recession.
Extreme Drought, the next level, last occurred in this area in 2012, which brought major crop and pasture losses. The final category is Exceptional Drought, which last occurred in this state in 1988.
To combat this recent dry spell and turn things around, we need an inch of rain each week in the summer, which officially began on Monday. To slow the evaporation rate, temperatures will also need to go down. Currently, the evaporation rate is higher than the rainfall rate, which worsens a drought.
For now, local farmers are holding out hope.
"If we get small rains, even at the right timing, we could squeak out a normalish crop," Eischens said.