Since the beginning of time, farmers have been waiting for the weather. However, new changes in climate change have made spring rains heavier, which has been a problem for farmers. These farmers are already very stressed, but they have to wait for the fields to dry out before they can plant their crops, which makes things take longer.
Ross and Mark Woodruff are farmers who have been having this happen with soybeans. After two weeks of heavy rain that made the ground too wet to plant in, they couldn’t wait for the fields to dry out. As Ross Woodruff put it, “This year, with the weather, it’s slowed progress.” “I wouldn’t say we’re behind, but a few more rains and we will be,” he said.
If this puts them behind, it could be a big problem because it will have a big effect on their yield.
Dennis Todey, who runs the Midwest Climate Hub for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has said that new strategies are needed. Todey said, “Going forward, these problems are expected to keep getting worse.” It’s important for farmers to understand this and come up with new ways to deal with it, like changing what we plant, when we plant it, and how we plant it.
One thing that experts are talking about is how the spring rains are getting heavier. As the Earth warms, water is pushed into the air, which can lead to a lot more rain. This is getting worse as the number of wet days rises.
“The number of days with extremes is going up,” said Melissa Widhalm, an area climatologist at the Midwestern area Climate Center. It’s going up. It will be important for farmers to be able to handle a wider range of situations.