• Home
  • News
  • Ag Experts Say It’s Crucial We Get Some Rain Before The Ground Freezes

Ag Experts Say It’s Crucial We Get Some Rain Before The Ground Freezes

September 29, 2023 Steve Schwaller

(Worthington, Mn.)– Drought conditions across the region persist even though some areas have seen some rain recently. And even though any rain that does fall now will no longer benefit this year’s crops, Liz Stahl of University of Minnesota Extension in Worthington says it’s crucial we get some moisture to at least start to replenish subsoil for the next growing season. She says measurements at the Southwest Minnesota Research Station near Lamberton show there’s a long way to go to make up those deficits…

“That top five feet of soil, they’re measuring like 1.26 inches available in that top five feet of soil compared to historic average which was a little over four inches, so about a three inch deficit there when we look at those historic averages. So again, you know, that’s a significant amount. I know it’s harvest time, people don’t really want to get out of the fields but hopefully we can get the crops out but then also get some nice rains to get that soil recharged, because we’re going to need to have moisture in that profile when we get those crops going next year as well.”

Stahl adds it’s important we get that rainfall before the ground freezes. She says anything that falls after that will just run off.