The most rainfall recorded during the growing season was 25.16 inches in Liberty Township by Phil Epley. Blanchard Township was close behind with 25.13 inches as reported by Crop Production Services.
Don't believe us? Check out the chart in the attachment at the bottom of this story.
By Mark Badertscher, OSU Extension Educator
With the help of 15 volunteer rainfall reporters, the Hardin County Extension office has collected unofficial township rainfall data for the past 22 consecutive years.
This year, a cool and rainy planting season started off the growing season. Although some corn was planted in early May, rains spread planting season through the end of June and into July for soybeans.
Because of the wet soils and cool temperatures, root systems were slow to develop, slowing the intake of nutrients to the plants. Many fields in the county were saturated in the early stages of growth, requiring replanting of some areas.
July and August were drier months, giving crops a chance to grow with moisture accumulated in the soil. Lower amounts of rain in the summer months had adverse effect on crop growth in some areas, but also held back disease and insect pressure. Hail damage also set back crops in part of the county.
During the growing season, from April 15 through October 15, average rainfall was 21.04 inches. This is 2.82 inches below the 10-year average growing season precipitation, and 3.39 less inches of rain than last year’s growing season. Harvest came later this year, with several corn acres still remaining to be harvested along with a few soybean fields. Shelling of corn has been steady in the past couple of weeks as farmers work to get the grain in the bin.
Crop yields have been variable, depending on the area rainfall, date of planting and other factors. Some yields varying greatly in fields, bringing in lower than expected bushels with lower crop prices than a year ago. Fall planting of winter wheat has emerged with good stands. Because of the late soybean harvest, some intended wheat acres were either planted later than normal or not planted at all. There has been a large amount of fall tillage in the county, in between days that otherwise allowed for good harvest progress.
The most rainfall recorded during the growing season was 25.16 inches in Liberty Township by Phil Epley. Blanchard Township was close behind with 25.13 inches as reported by Crop Production Services.
The least amount of rain was recorded in Buck Township by Heritage Cooperative (Kenton), with 17.69 inches for the season. A range of 7.47 inches in rainfall accumulation from high to low across the county is an indication of the variability in rainfall throughout Hardin County in 2014.
