It has been very hot and fairly dry over the last month. Any kind of rain is becoming very important for all crops in the area. From June 1 to July 11, 2012, a total of 4.5" of precipitation was recorded which has been enough to keep everything going so far. There are a lot of worse off areas in Iowa. The extreme high temperatures have taken care of what rain we did receive. On July 7, 2012 I was able to go out and take some more pictures. The grass is continuing to grow, but seems slowed by the lack of adequate moisture. The volunteer grass is also filling in and it will be in competition with the miscanthus until the miscanthus can hopefully grow over it. Much of the good standing miscanthus is chest high (4'-5') which is significantly better than July last year. The grass is at a height comparable to late August of last year.
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| The sun was beginning to set, but this is the same straight on view that I posted for late spring. the increased growth is obvious. |
Average Western Iowa precipitation and Iowa temperatures
From
NOAA
On a separate topic, a new rhizome digger was acquired for our test
plot. It was an old potato planter that we can use to dig up rhizomes
this fall. Looking forward to the testing with this old tool.
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