|
| | ||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| HOME | ABOUT US | CONTACT US | SUBSCRIBE | NEWSSTAND LOCATIONS | ||||
| ||||
|
|
| | |
Adequate soil recharge critical for 2007 growing season Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Agri News staff writer
MINNEAPOLIS -- Recharging soil moisture in March and April is going to be critical for the 2007 growing season.
As of Dec. 5, much of Minnesota had less than 5 inches of stored soil moisture, said Mark Seeley, University of Minnesota Extension climatologist. In some places in the Red River Valley, there's less than 3 inches of stored soil moisture for the first time since 1988.
Seeley spoke last week at the Minnesota Convention Center at the Minnesota Crop Production Retailers' Crop Pest Management Short Course.
The drought that spread through Minnesota this past growing season was a flash drought, Seeley said. It means that it started as a potentially good growing season, but in a matter of three months, soil moisture decreased four to five points on the Palmer Drought Severity Scale, used to measure droughts.
"That's exactly what happened in 1896, 1933 and 2006," he said.
The season started with normal amounts of precipitation, but very few precipitation events were noted during the growing season in some part of the state, Seeley said.
Warmer summer temperatures, including a heat index value of 124 degrees on July 23, amplified the problem.
Seeley noted that July 2006 was the third driest July in Minnesota since 1895.
It was also the fifth-hottest July since 1936. Seeley said there's one particular between the two years -- in 1936, it was a daytime-dominated heat.
"We had a lot of extremely hot nights," he said.
Seeley said he imagines there will be some arctic outbreaks over the winter and he hopes they bring snow cover with them.
There is a moisture deficiency that needs to be made up, he said. |
| | |
| |
Copyright 2008 Agri News
All Rights Reserved
