Ag Weather Impacts

Ag Weather Impacts

Only isolated showers are expected today across the Columbia Basin with additional rainfall just a tenth of an inch or less. Rainfall amounts this past weekend and Monday tallied between 1/3 and ¾ inch on most farms, but areas near the Blue Mountains picked up 1 to 2 inches. We'll be in between weather systems on Wednesday as it looks like the next round of showers will arrive with a Pacific front on Thursday and then another front is expected Saturday. Rainfall amounts from these systems are also expected to be light at less than quarter inch, except up to a third of an inch close to the Blue Mountains. Rivers and streams are rising due to this rain and snowmelt, so moving livestock and equipment out of potential flood zones is also advised. Outside of the flooding, the moisture has been able to move recently applied fertilizer into the root zone. Soil temperatures are in the upper 40s and lower 50s and will likely show little change for the next several days. So, with the abundant moisture, pastures, and small grains should continue to develop. Scouting wheat though for foliar diseases may be needed. Spraying conditions are rather poor due to the washoff risk and breezy winds causing chemical drift. Mountain snowpack ranges from 65 to 90 percent of normal in the Yakima and Columbia drainages to 120 to 140 percent of normal in the Blue Mountains. There does not appear to be any stretches of above normal temperatures until the end of April which will keep the snowpack from melting too fast.
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