LEXINGTON, Ky (LEX 18) Starting this weekend, we have daily rain chances for the next week and farmers are holding their breath, hoping that the soil will eventually have a chance to dry out so they can plant the rest of their crops.
"We’ve received it… in what seems like surges at times, where we’ve just had a week on end with nothing but rain as it feels," said Chad Lee, an Agronomist at the University of Kentucky.
With more than half the year to go, we’ve already gotten more than half our yearly rainfall, and for farmers who grow things like corn, wheat, and soybeans, it’s not just the amount of rain, but how we’ve gotten it.
“Some people pray for rain just for it to cool off, a farmer prays for rain they pray for it to occur over a 12-hour period with gentle infiltration," said Lee.
The soy stayed wet and wet soil just isn’t ideal for planting. This means the farmers are about 3 and a half weeks behind schedule.
"If you look at what the weather is giving us, we’re fairly on track with what the weather is giving us this year but, we are behind calendar wise and that is a concern," said Lee.
What does this mean for consumers? Likely nothing, at least, not immediately. Lee said that thankfully our crops are resilient and there are back up plans globally to make up for lost supply. but should these extreme weather patterns persist, or if we get no rain this summer, there could be a price to pay down the line.
"There is a chance…there is a chance that our yields are going to be off this year, and that could affect some of our trade and things like that," said Lee.
