As we await more possible wintery weather the week of February 14th – 21st, Vermilion County Farm Bureau spokesperson Tom Fricke says the recent major storm we had worked out perfectly for farmers, because the after effects have been gradual. Yes, moisture in the soil is good for the next growing season, and extra cold temps are good for the winter frost line killing off bugs. But what you don’t want, as Fricke told us recently, is rapid melting.
AUDIO: As long as it’s doing what it’s doing, which is melting slowly. If you get a fast melt and it all runs off, it doesn’t do much good. But with these temperatures just creeping above freezing and having it slowly melt, a lot of it’s soaking in. And that’s definitely going to help our water table as we move into the spring season.
And a slow melt is exactly what had been happening, at least until the Friday rains. As for the coming week, if we are getting more, Fricke says, at this point, more moisture would be just fine. Because we certainly have not had what you’d call “too much” yet.
AUDIO: We’re not over-saturated, so we can still use some more moisture to make sure we’ve got adequate sub-surface moisture going into the spring planting season.
Fricke says once March 1st hits, yes, farmers will be itchy about the new planting season; and field work could begin pretty early since it seems to get earlier every year. But Mother Nature will make the call, most likely putting most serious prep work off until mid to late March.
