(Note: This story was written before this week’s winter storm).
With one more week of dry and very windy weather under our belts, concerns have risen over what farmers will be in store for once they get out and into the fields for planting this spring.
A landscape baron of snow at this time of the year is typically an unusual sight, and with farmers coming off a mostly dry summer and fall of 2024 already, a total lack of snow puts the soil recharge phase into dangerous territory.
“We’re still in that abnormally dry phase,” said Liz Stahl, Extension Educator with the University of Minnesota. “Last year, some places came out above average in moisture for the year, but again, we got all that moisture in June, and then everything just kind of shut off. It’s been really dry.”