A welcome rain was received in south central Nebraska.
The area had been suffering from drought conditions.
Rainfall amounts recorded throughout the area included Clay Center, .84; Alma, .41; Orleans, 1.10; Stamford, 1.30; Minden, 1.20; Smith Center, Kan., .75; Hebron, .70; Geneva, .47; Holdrege, 2.22; Franklin, .24.
In Hastings, the Nebraska Public Power District recorded .76 of an inch Wednesday morning; Hastings Aviation recorded .73 of an inch.
At the South Central Research and Extension Center near Clay Center, 1 inch was received. Dean Eisenhauer, irrigation specialist at the center, was quoted: "One inch is a long way from what we need, but we will take all we can get."
At any rate, the showers lifted the spirits of farmers in the area even though more moisture is needed to soak the parched land.
In fact, the executive director for the Adams County office of the federal Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, Doug Carter, said of the rainfall: "It's a start. But we need 10 inches more to get back to normal."
More information from Eisenhauer: The rain will not take the pressure off of pivot irrigators. Farmers will still need to irrigate to raise soil moisture profiles before peak water usage periods in June and July.
Quotations from Eisenhauer: "It's really going to take a lot of the uncertainty out of the dryland farmer's mind. He will have a little bit more faith in his spring
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planting." Still, Eisenhauer noted: "The ground will still store 4 to 6 inches of moisture."
More information from Carter: Several hundred Adams County producers have applied for ASCS emergency feed programs, and he expects more producers to sign up in the following weeks. The executive director said that the drought was not over and that timely rains were still needed throughout the summer.
Carter quotation: "If we don't get timely rains, a 10-day stretch of hot-dry winds will melt a crop in a hurry."
Eugene Svoboda, a farmer in Deweese, said that the rain had helped his crops. Svoboda is a dryland farmer. He said that he would start to plant milo and feed after the rain is over. However, Svoboda said that the rain came a little late to help his winter wheat.
The Deweese farmer said that he had already pastured some of his wheat acres, and he predicted a short wheat harvest if more rain is not received. "Ten to 15 bushels per acre is going to catch it," he said.
Additional Svoboda quotation: "It makes stuff look a little better. Maybe once it breaks loose it will continue to rain."
The rains were welcome, but Franklin County remained the driest in the area. Only .24 was received there. Lloyd Vauthrin, weather specialist in Franklin, said: "What we really need is 5 inches. The ponds are all dry, and the pasture isn't growing."
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Exercise 15.2
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2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education