Ag Weather Impacts

Ag Weather Impacts

The upper level ridge that brought extreme heat and low humidity to the Columbia Basin will gradually flatten. Look for modified pacific air to finally return and drop temperatures to near normal for Thursday through Sunday and then warm back to above normal again for the early to middle part of next week. As you might have expected, nearly all farms will be ending July without any measurable rainfall and the Columbia Basin is considered Abnormally dry. Now it does appear the next chance for rain will arrive ahead of a frontal system after the middle of next week. In the meantime, you can plan for weekly crop water use around 2 inches for alfalfa, tasseling corn, and late potatoes. Lawns and melons should use about an inch and a half. Cooling and shading will be important for livestock again today, but heat stress should decrease beginning Wednesday. You can expect sunburn potential to continue to be high for apples, decreasing slightly this weekend. Wheat and barley harvest made exceptional progress again this past week as low humidity allowed combines to roll shortly after sunrise. More of the same is likely this week, but the low humidity will continue to limit alfalfa baling to the early morning hours. Sprayers will have to contend with stronger breezes for Thursday into Saturday. Look for lighter winds to return Sunday through Tuesday.
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