You may have noticed the farm fields are a little more quiet than they typically are this time of year. The weather IS to blame.
Farmers are having a difficult time planting new crops with all of the rain we've had lately. Since early April, we've picked up nearly 6" of rainfall. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the soggy conditions have resulted in Indiana farmers only planting 3% of the corn crop. That's compared to 37% this time last year. Soybeans are faring even worse at just 1% planted so far in 2019.
While a dry stretch of weather isn't easy to come by this time of year, there is some relief in the extended outlook. The Climate Prediction Center's outlook for May 14th-18th puts a bullseye of below average rainfall over Central Indiana. The trend of lower than average rainfall could extend to just ahead of the Memorial Day weekend. That would be great news for farmers being able to work in the fields, as long as the wet weather doesn't stay away too long.
