Weather may help farmers get an early start to planting season

A snow-sparse winter and recent mild temperatures may give Minnesota farmers a head start on planting this spring, which could improve crop yields at a time when prices remain low.

Compared with last year, when the snowpack was much deeper than normal, nearly all of the state's ­farmland is completely snow-free — except for what fell on Sunday that will melt quickly — and the dark soil has been thawing during the longer daylight hours.

"The last couple of years we kept snow on the ground for most of March," said Pete Boulay, climatologist for the Department of Natural Resources. "This year it was gone in an instant because we didn't have much on the ground to begin with."

Boulay noted that in 2014, the Twin Cities had 21 inches of snow on the ground at the beginning of March.

Another major difference between 2015 and the past couple of years is the depth of frost under farmland. A year ago, the frost reached nearly 5 feet deep in southwestern Minnesota, according to University of Minnesota records, and this year it's closer to 3 feet deep.

"We still had frost in the ground in late April and early May of 2014 because of the depth the frost went," said Jeff Strock, U professor and soil scientist at the Southwest Research and Outreach Center near Lamberton.

"This year, the ground out there is going to start heating up relatively quickly," he said.

"The longer the plant can grow and photosynthesize and take up rain, the better their yields possibly are going to be," he said. With any luck, Strock said, farmers in some areas may be able to plant spring wheat, oats and barley by month's end.

Bruce Peterson, who grows corn and soybeans near Northfield and is president of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, said that catching a break with weather this year would be a welcome relief compared to the past two years when springs were very wet and very late. Much of the corn in southern Minnesota is planted in late April, he said, but in 2013 and 2014 many growers couldn't get into the fields until mid-May.

"I'm excited about the prospect of an earlier planting for sure," he said.

Warm weather makes it easier for farmers to get equipment out of the sheds and prepped for work, he said, and it gives them more flexibility in applying fertilizers and tilling the soil to prepare their fields for planting.

Peterson said that the one constant in farming is that every year is different, and he knows that too much rain and even snow in April can hinder getting into the fields. In the Twin Cities, for instance, April 2014 brought 7 inches of snow and more than 6 inches of rain.

"Any time you can get earlier planting, it's going to increase your odds of getting an average or above-average yield," he said, and that will be especially important in 2015 if grain prices remain low.

Another benefit of less snow cover and shallower frost is a lower likelihood of flooding, said David Mulla, U professor of soil and water resources.

"We could have a lot less stream flow this year in the spring because of the lower snowpack, and better infiltration in the soil if we do get rain," he said. "So there could be a lot less flooding risk and a lot less stream bank erosion."

Flooding happens when a large snowpack melts quickly, or when heavy rains occur, and the ground is still too frozen to absorb it, Mulla said, but those conditions seem less likely this year. "It all depends on how much rain we get in the next month and a half," he said.

National Weather Service hydrologist Craig Schmidt agrees, and said the temperature of the soil is starting to rise in many locations. "That frost layer will probably come out pretty quick with the temperatures we've been having, especially with the nighttime lows staying above freezing in a lot of areas," he said.

Schmidt said temperatures across much of the state will likely remain in the normal range for a time, with highs in the 40s rather than the 60s.