Is it just me, or is it getting kind of dry out here?

" Well sown is half grown"

Farm saying

Most of us remember 2009 as the year without a summer; a dreary progression of wet weekends brightened by biblical downpours. Local coffee shops were filled with roving gangs of air conditioner and pool salespeople. Tempers frayed and tomatoes blighted. It made "Mad Max" look like "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm".

What a difference a year makes!

The fields are alive with the sound of diesels. Cash croppers have on their "What, me worry?" smiles and most of Ontario's 2010 field corn crop has been planted, into the best soil conditions in many years.

We sowed our spring wheat on April 15. We have had no appreciable rainfall since then, meaning that there have been 17 days straight to plant any early seeded crops. By way of comparison, it took until June 10 in 2009 to accumulate 17 planting days! Soil conditions were such that a lot of those fields were worked too wet; the crops "mudded in".

There is a perfect time to plant most fields. The tipping point comes when there is enough moisture to germinate the seed, and yet not too much moisture to allow the soil to be compacted by the weight of the tractor. Hence the well sown=well grown. If you can wait a bit and avoid compacting the soil, the roots will have an easier time growing and ultimately produce a better crop.

Because it has been so dry, even the dreaded "Markham Clay" can be worked this spring without fear of soil compaction.

Our first planting of sweet corn is in the ground. I have never seen such dry soil conditions so early in the season; we actually need rain just to germinate that first planting.

Planting season for a vegetable farmer is a drawn out affair; we go from now to the end of July, so it's still early in the piece as to what kind of year we're in for.

It's overcast and the weather man promises rain. I say send-her-down, but the memory of 2009 is still sloshing around.....

In farming, as in life, you have to be careful what you wish for!