The drought monitor report as of Tuesday, August 2, indicates he same conditions as we continue to see severe and extreme drought. The recent rains helped the extreme western counties a bit. Only Northeast Kansas is in good shape. The six to ten-day outlook (August 9 to 13) indicates a 50 to 70% chance of above normal temperatures (our area is right on the line) and believe it or not, a 40 to 50% chance of below normal precipitation. The eight to fourteen-day outlook (August 11 to 17) indicates a 50 to 60% chance of above normal temperatures and 33 to 40% chance of below normal precipitation. Exactly what our summer crops don’t need. While most of the corn is pretty far along and mostly what is there is there, this forecast is very bad news for the dryland soybean crop and not much better for grain sorghum and hay crops. Definitely the year to check for nitrates in Sudan grass, and sorghum x Sudan hybrids. Today, how can we work to improve our soil to help crops and stay economically viable with the weather extremes that are becoming the norm?
