Trevor Holbrook

“Meat production is our No. 1 customer domestically for the soybean industry, and then having these meatpacking plants close, that’s clearly a concern for our industry right now."

"The equal chances for temperature really reflects some uncertainty in the outlook for what May is going to bring.”

“It’s not the end of the world. It is going to slow things down.”

Planting season inches closer for many around the Midwest, and some states have even begun planting, as the first 2020 crop progress report showed on Monday.

Weather is always an important ingredient for the planting season, but this year it could be more top-of-mind for farmers after a wet 2019.

Read more: USDA's first Crop Progress Report shows 3% of corn planted

Weather has always been a key component in farming, as recent years have reemphasized. Veteran farmers in the Midwest have seen many forms of extreme weather during their time tending to fields and livestock. 

Recently, Mother Nature’s extreme of choice has been wetness in the Corn Belt and other parts of the country. While 2020 will likely be gentler to Midwest farmers in terms of wetness, there’s still reason to have concerns about moisture this planting season after the soggy series last year.

Planting season on the horizon alone already adds stress to a farmer’s day-to-day life. 

Aside from getting everything prepared, COVID-19, fluctuating markets, and other forms of uncertainty are added to the equation.

The other big piece of uncertainty – and arguably one of the most important – is the weather. The entire Corn Belt is sensitive to any kind of excess rain that could arrive this spring, and Successful Farming talked to Dennis Todey, Director of the USDA Midwest Climate Hub, to provide an update on the planting season weather.