These spring-like winter days are very enjoyable, but they are not doing anything to relieve our drought problems. We have enjoyed a few rainy days during the past couple of months, but even though the days were wet and messy the amount of actual rainfall we received was very small.

During December we received a couple of rains greater than one inch, but the rest of the rains were just fractions of an inch. Even during January, the rains we received did not amount to much. Robeson County, and especially the Lumberton area of the county, finished last year around twenty inches of rainfall below normal. We are starting this year off with the same trend. We are already below normal for the year, and things do not look too promising.

The rains we have received recently have kept small grain crops looking pretty good. All those very green fields you see scattered across the county are wheat, oats, barley, or rye. The vast majority of it, probably over 55,000 acres, is winter wheat.

These crops don't need a lot of rainfall at this time. The plants are very small, so it does not take a lot of water in the soil to provide all the moisture they need. But within a few more weeks small grains will begin to grow rapidly, putting on a lot of above ground growth. This is when the crop's demand for moisture will increase drastically. The problem is, at the same time everything else will begin to grow and require lots of water as well. Weeds will begin to grow vigorously in the fields, trees will start budding, and grass will start to grow. The old folks term is "the sap will start rising."

Unless we receive showers very frequently, or unless we get lots of heavy rains pretty often, we will continue to battle drought problems again this year. Let's hope things do not get as bad as they were last summer.

Recognizing that the chances are very good for the drought to continue through this summer, it is a good idea to begin now planning how you might best deal with the problems that most likely will occur. There are several very good educational meetings coming up in the next few days I would like to make you aware of.

The Robeson County Crop Promotion Association will present its Annual Awards and Recognition Banquet tonight at the Extension Center. There will be some pleasant surprises when the corn yield winners are announced, but it will be very obvious that good yields this past year were very isolated situations. We have learned a lot from the drought this past year, so we can make a few plans that will allow us to reduce the impact from a drought this coming growing season. Please watch this newspaper for complete details about who won the awards at this banquet.

Everyone in the county remembers the tremendous problem we had this past summer with wild fires. The ones that will remember it the best are those that lost valuable timber or other property because of wildfires. The NC Forest Service and the Cooperative Extension Service will join forces to provide a very informative forestry meeting next Monday night, February 11, 7:00 pm at the O. P. Owens Agriculture Center in Lumberton. There is no charge to attend this meeting, so if you own timber property in Robeson County I strongly urge you to make every effort to attend. The major topics to be covered include preventing wildfires and using fire as a management tool, forestry trends and forestry management, timber sales agreements, and the value of using consulting foresters. A special feature will be a presentation by an Extension Wildlife Specialist about coyotes and their impact in Robeson County.

I try to provide this type of forestry meeting every winter. It is frustrating to me that it always seems that just a few days after the meeting landowners start calling me asking questions about timber that were discussed in detail during the meeting. If you own rural farmland and timberland, this meeting was developed just for you. In addition to attending yourself, I urge you to help me spread the word by telling others about this meeting.

Two major issues for soybean producers this coming year will be determining which variety to plant that will best withstand drought stress, and how to manage weeds to prevent unnecessary competition for the limited amount of moisture that will be available. Both of these topics, and much more, will be covered at the Tri-County Soybean Production Meeting that will be held at the Scotland County Extension Center in Laurinburg. This meeting will be held Wednesday, February 13, from 10:00 until noon. Following the meeting a sponsored lunch will be provided.

Dr. Jim Dunphy, Extension Soybean Specialist and Dr. Alan York, Extension Weed Specialist will be the featured speakers. They gained a lot of experience this past summer helping farmers across the state with unusual soybean problems, as well as herbicide resistance problems. They will share this knowledge, as well as answer any questions soybean producers may have.

There is no charge for this meeting, and pesticide recertification credits are available. All soybean producers in Robeson, Scotland, and Hoke counties are strongly encouraged to make plans to attend.

If you have any questions at all about any of the meetings or other activities provided by your Cooperative Extension Service, please do not hesitate calling us at 910-671-3276. My staff or I will be glad to help you. If you have suggestions about topics we need to place more emphasis on, or how we might be able to do a better job of providing information to you, please share your thoughts and ideas with us. We would welcome your comments.

I look forward to seeing you at some of Cooperative Extension's educational meetings.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 06/17/09