Minnesota Crops Looking Good After 4 Inches of Rain Amid Severe Drought

It is amazing what a few inches of rain can do when you are in a severe drought.

I would drive out to the farm from Faribault and the corn and soybeans all looked about the same. The corn leaves were all curled up and even the soybeans leaves were turned downward to conserve moisture. It was almost like you did not even want to look at the crops because they were so moisture-stressed 8 days ago. They were not dead yet and there was rain in the forecast so there was hope.

Then last weekend it rained 2.5 inches and Friday another 1.5 inches. Plus, most of our listening area received rain the week before and more when I finally had my turn. This afternoon driving out to the farm all the crops looked great, including mine. It is almost like you cannot believe how good the corn and soybeans look. It is like all those days the crops were under severe moisture stress did not happen. The beans are lush and almost at canopy. The corn is the deepest green color that I can remember?

Sure, there may be an area of some fields with lighter soil that may have been badly hurt by the drought. But it is amazing how heavy soils with water holding capacity were able to sustain the crop until the rains came! Plus there are some parts of our listening area that are still waiting for rain. Lest hope their turn will come soon. In the pictures are soybeans, corn getting ready to tassel and my sweet corn planted a week after Memorial Day when it was 100 degrees!