Field and Garden: Wrapping up winter, looking to spring

A weather system late last October blanketed Foster County with 11 inches of snow.

After experiencing record breaking snowfall in 2022 – 2023, most of us were probably thinking, “Oh no! Here we go again.”

But the weather event on October 26 and 27, turned out to be the heaviest snowfall we would see all winter.

The Carrington REC received just 27 additional inches in the months that followed, bringing the total snowfall to 38 inches for the winter of 2023 – 2024. Our annual average is 41 inches.

Temperatures were relatively mild throughout the winter.

Yes, there were nights in mid-January when temperatures dropped to 20 degrees below zero, and windchills reached minus 50 degrees. But the extreme cold was of short duration.

December and February were particularly warm, with daily temperatures averaging 12 degrees above normal.

Records were broken when daily highs at the REC reached 52 degrees on Feb. 24 and 59 degrees on Feb. 26.

The most noteworthy weather event of the past winter was the rain and ice storm which hit southwest, south central and eastern North Dakota Dec. 25 – 27.

Carrington received almost two thirds of an inch of precipitation during that storm. Ice buildup on electrical lines resulted in power outages for several hours or longer in many parts of the county.

Overall, our weather was typical of what is expected during an El Niño winter – warmer than normal temperatures with average precipitation.

El Niño patterns are fading rapidly now, and scientists say it is likely that La Niña will develop sometime this summer.

What does that mean for Foster County? The long-term forecast for June-July-August shows no clear trend one way or the other. In other words, we’ll have to wait and see.

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Warm temperatures in mid-April had many farmers itching to get into the field, but in most cases, the soil wasn’t dry enough to work yet.

Looking back over the past five years, Foster County farmers have planted 50 to 60 percent of their land to soybeans and 20 to 30 percent of their land to corn. Wheat, barley and sunflowers combined accounted for 11 to 25 percent of crop acreage.

We’ll likely see similar proportions this year. If anything, small grain acreage may decline because prices are low.

Many ranchers are done, or nearly done with calving. Others still have a ways to go.

Most cattle producers have told me this has been a good year in terms of calf health.

“Last year, our calves were just surviving as we were hit by one storm after another,” said one producer. “This year, our calves are thriving.”

As I drove across the county in mid-April, I noticed pastures were beginning to green up.

If we continue to get warm weather, ranchers may be tempted to turn their cows out to grass.

Range scientists caution producers not to turn out their animals too early.

Grass production may be significantly reduced if grazing begins before the grass reaches the 3 to 3.5 leaf stage.