The one thing farmers can't control is the weather and this year it appears spring planting in the East will take a hit while out West there's no relief for the drought.

New National weather maps released April 21 show that cooler weather will linger in the Eastern Corn Belt and as far North and West in parts of the Dakotas. On top of that the weather pattern for the next three months looks wetter in the East. Meanwhile, hot, dry conditions out West aren't going away any time soon.

Tom Bechman, editor of Indiana Prairie Farmer, offers a look at those new weather maps with insight from the Indiana state climatologist. He also offers some insight into a study showing that while we have bigger planters we're not getting crops into the ground any sooner than in the past.

As part of his look at the weather, Tom also shares that Western weather isn't improving. We dig into that with Curt Arens, editor of Nebraska Farmer, and Jennifer Latzke, editor of Kansas Farmer, who discuss the one impact of that hot dry weather – grassland wildfires. They talk about this rising trend and what tactics farmers can use before fire hits. Oh, and listen to the end to learn about one issue that both Arens and Latzke agree is a big deal in the West.

The conversations with all these editors offer not only insights but useful management information you can use.

Give it a listen.

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