County needs rain to make hay in May
Staff writer
If May’s precipitation mimics April’s, Marion County extension agency Rickey Roberts will be cranky.
“It’s 3:08 p.m. Tuesday, and I’m looking into my crystal ball that isn’t working very well,” Roberts said. “We’re awfully dry. As it looks right now, my fear is that the hay crop could get short. Last year, the hay crop was short because of the drought. We need rain to make hay.”
If the county doesn’t get moisture, he said, “we should all be grumpy. It’s bad for agriculture, which means it’s bad for everyone,” he said. “Our economy is based on agriculture.”
Status of other crops
- Wheat: “I think we could make something of a wheat crop.”
- Milo: It’s going in the ground.
- Corn: Most of it’s in the ground and planted. “It’s trying to poke its head up. It’s going to be hunting for moisture.
- Beans: “I don’t think very much of the beans are in the ground yet. Let it rain so that we’ve got a good bed to plant the milo and beans into.”