The Mad Dash of Spring Planting
When spring planting season has been hit and miss like this year, the work isn't scheduled by the calendar. If conditions finally permit, it doesn't matter what day of the week it is, or what hour of the day it is. It's time to roll.
Favorable conditions for spring planting are determined by weather, moisture and soil temperature. It's a simple enough combination that rarely, if ever, comes together as a farmer might hope.
Farmers keep a very close eye on current weather data and forecast trends. Here, locally, that's typically through AgWeatherNet, a service through Washington State University that, at 15-minute intervals, provides local reporting of air temperature, relative humidity, soil temperature at depths of two and eight inches, rainfall, wind speed, wind direction, and dew point.
There are weather stations dotted throughout Skagit County, providing accurate measurements that farmers rely on to determine when to safely plant.
It is the breaks in volatile spring weather that farmers seize upon to get on with the business at hand.
If the weather has left the soil moist but not wet, and certainly not muddy, it is possible that heavy agricultural equipment can be run over the fields without risking soil compaction.
If there's been a significant rain event followed by a robust wind, the farmer may luck out. The wind helps to dry the soil and even to warm it.
Suitable soil temperature for planting is at least 50° F at a depth of four inches. (This is a variable formula depending on the crop, but it's a useful general rule.)
According to AgWeatherNet, in the month of April, soil temperatures at the Mount Vernon weather station averaged just under 50° F at both two inches and eight inches deep. In a situation that close, microclimates come into play.
Sometimes slight contours in the land, or subtle geological differences in soil structure, can produce slightly different readings for a particular field. That localized microclimate can tip the balance toward or away from planting. It takes a farmer's intimate knowledge of the land to make the final decision.
The Demand and How It’s Met
Getting crucial planting done in a timely manner, especially in a spring like this one, often means there's an "all hands on deck" urgency to prepare and plant fields once conditions improve even a little.
Much of the time this spring has been cold and wet. It has delayed planting, even threatened new planting and germination. Planting plans have had to pivot to accommodate the conditions.
A farmer's preparation is what allows the planting plan to pivot.
How to Weather the Weather
It starts with the soil itself. A farmer will test the soil in the fall to determine the type and quantity of nutrients that were depleted by the just harvested crop.
Replacing those nutrients can be addressed in a number of ways. Cover cropping, applying soil amendments like a specific type of fertilizer, manure or compost, and the deliberate incorporation of organic matter in the form of crop residues, are just a few of the ways the farmer prepares for the next growing season.
These interventions not only feed the soil, but they improve the soil's structure. The better the structure, the better the soil can absorb and withstand heavy rains and inopportune weather.
Another soil test in the spring, as fields are being prepared, has been likened to taking the pulse of a farm. It will show how well the farmer's fall interventions have performed and give a heads up on anything that may need tweaking. Farmers are very good at tweaking.
If it seems a Bit Frenetic... Well, It Is
Regardless how well they plan and prepare, farmers accept they cannot ever be in complete control. Like all businesses, they contend with rising costs of inputs, labor, and transportation. But farming differs from most other businesses because of the wild card of weather.
That factor alone can make or break a farming operation.
When spring planting season has been hit and miss like this year, the work isn't scheduled by the calendar. If conditions finally permit, it doesn't matter what day of the week it is, or what hour of the day it is. It's time to roll.
If you should find yourself following a slow-moving farm implement on a local road or byway—and maybe being frustrated by the delay—know this: that farmer is probably putting in a twelve-hour or longer day in an all out attempt to get the crop planted before Mother Nature again calls a halt.
Be patient. Be understanding.
It's not too much to ask, is it?
By Teresa Bennett: info@skagitonians.org