While Mason City set a record high temperature of 88 degrees on Wednesday, this week’s unseasonably warm weather is prompting many farmers in north-central Iowa to fire up their tractors and start planting. Angie Rieck-Hinz, a field agronomist with Iowa State University, says things are suddenly very busy, considering there was snow on the ground just a matter of several days ago.
Parts of Iowa have struggled with soil that may be too dry one month and flooded the next, but she says we’re in a sweet spot right now.
After all the weather challenges farmers have been facing in recent years, she says it’s a nice reward to be able to get started on planting this week.
Forecasters say we’re in for a change as soon as Friday afternoon, with cooler temperatures expected and the likelihood of rain through the weekend.
