This is a little farther discussion into why I would not choose to plant now. I think you should definitely look at long term trends when making decisions. It’s the smart thing to do……But when it comes to making the individual year to year decisions on when to plant…..I think you should first and foremost take the current conditions into considerations if given a choice of when to plant.

Some years we may have tropical systems push out the gulf….some years we may have early cold fronts push through with slow soaking rains and cooler temps….and some years we may have summer linger on for an extra couple weeks.

A couple considerations…..My soil is not bone dry right now but at the same time, it’s not that moist either. There is a big outbreak of armyworms this year. The forecast I’m looking at is showing less than 50% rain chances (30% here) with high temps in the low to mid 90’s for the next week. Putting seed out right now is putting it at a high risk of bad things happening…..birds, continued drought, partial germination, etc…..If given the choice….I’m waiting on better conditions before trying to crank my field up.

Very likely within the next two weeks we will see highs dip down into the lower 80’s or maybe even a good front that pushes us the 70’s. It will likely have rain associated with it. Either on that front or the week or two following that front is when I would plant. If we look like we’re going to have a wet pattern move in over the 7-day, then I don’t mind waiting and planting just behind the front. The less days my seed is sitting in poor conditions the better. All I need is that one cycle of good conditions and the field will be off and running easily by bow opener. You can go from nothing to green in about 10 days if conditions are good.