Not sure why people still think it’s reasonable to try to farm in the state of Nebraska. Been pretty clear for a century that it just doesn’t get enough rainfall.
"We're in a drought. BUT ..... all the rain that we just received isn't the right kind of rain. It's (too hard, too soft, not enough, too much, too fast, in the wrong place, etc, pick one)."
There's just no making people happy, sometimes. What the heck, at least they didn't blame Global Warming.
Here in Colorado, we average 33” of snowfall during the winter according to the local news. Right now, we are at 30” and have another storm on the way. This should get us back to normal but will not have done anything to make up for the drought.
We need several 1 to 3 inch snow storms over the next two months and perhaps some rain to start refilling the lakes and streams.
I live in Kansas.
The ground was not at all frozen before our big snowfall last week. And its snowing again today. The ground is insulated and not at all frozen...and the majority of this snow will go into the soil.
I think this article oversimplifies a variety of issues at hand. First of all, the soil is plain desiccated...and the snow will help. I think its better than rainfall, since it doesn’t immediately run off like rain from a thunderstorm. But beyond that, the aquifer in central Kansas has been dropping for decades...no this won’t help. We do have a variety of streams that are so low, the water rights are being suspended...this snow will help that. Now the most important thing is to actually get rain while the crops are in the field....which can never be predicted.