July is here to bring us sunshine, county fairs, and carnivals. But some farmers are still in the fields working on planting or harvest they usually would have had done weeks ago.
But June brought on record precipitation – two to three times the normal amount in some areas – which hasn’t paired well with a lack of dry days to provide some relief. That may be changing soon.
Looking at the one- to five-day outlook, many areas of the Midwest will get some additional dry time through the July 4th weekend, says Dan Hicks, meteorologist with Freese-Notis Weather.
“This may allow some drying across the wet areas of the Midwest, reducing some of the flooding problems and slowing drying some of the fields,” explains Hicks. “This may allow some increase in fieldwork in a few areas as far as completion of soybean planting and possibly a little bit of winter wheat harvest.”
The six- to ten-day forecast isn’t giving hope for much of an open window as rains across the Midwest will bump back up to normal or above normal rainfall. Expect below average temperatures in that time as well.
