Weather and Market Commentary- October 23, 2009

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Weather and Market Commentary- October 23, 2009

October 23, 2009 by sabrina829

Friday, October 23, 2009:

Perfect weather in November could certainly change things, but we may now be to the point where we will have to consider the possibility that frozen ground will now be needed in parts of the Corn Belt for harvesting operations to resume again. That’s how wet things are after the rains of the past 36 hours in some areas. 1.50 to 2.50 inch rains are the rule, not the exception, across Iowa, Illinois, and large parts of surrounding states. Since this rain got started, a few places that I can confirm to have received more than two inches would include Ames, Des Moines, Sioux City, Kirksville, Peoria, and Springfield. I am certain that there are others that I am not mentioning, and undoubtedly some spots have gotten over three inches (Ames was close, with 2.94 inches there through 4 AM Central Time). It was still raining this morning in Iowa and Minnesota, though the heaviest of the rains early on this Friday were over Indiana and western Ohio. It is going to be a tall task to dry out the ground enough to support machinery. One needs to keep in mind that, even under the best of conditions, drying weather now is not nearly as good as it was earlier in the fall due to cooler temperatures and less sunlight.

That’s a moot point anyway I guess, as there is simply not going to be a lot of good drying weather coming up. The current system will continue to produce rain today over much of the central and eastern Corn Belt, with the heaviest of the rain as you go into northeastern parts of the region. We will see much of the region in sunshine tomorrow, but rain will become possible again tomorrow night and there will be rains (mostly light, but some places could get a half inch or more) for Sunday and into Monday. A more substantial storm system is still forecast for the middle of next week. Details on that storm are a little unclear, but current indications suggest that it could be quite a rain maker given very warm air ahead of the storm battling with very cold air drawn down behind it. A couple weeks ago in this report I stated that, considering the lateness of the crop, the wetness of the crop, and the state of the weather forecast that this was the worst conditions for harvesting that I had ever seen. Here we are two weeks later…and things clearly do not look any better.