Weekly Ag Update By ned birkey msu EXTENSION EDUCATOR EMERITUS SPARTAN AG The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center’s 8-to-14-day outlook through April 7 is calling for an outlook of likely above normal temperatures and precipitation. The official 30-day forecast for April is calling for normal to slightly above normal temperatures and likely above normal precipitation. Eric Snodgrass said the last 45 years have seen a prolonged shift in spring severe weather in the eastern U.S. He sees a “wetter signal” for the next month through April 26. Just for fun, the Climate Predication Center’s official three-month outlook for July through September is calling for cooler temperatures in the Great Lakes and a normal seasonal precipitation outlook. The MSU Enviroweather station at Deerfield had the soil temperature at the 2-inch level at 35.1ºF for March 24, with a slight warmup of soils into the low 40s March 21 and 22. The updated MSU 30-year average (1980-2010) spring freeze date (28ºF) is April 13, and the frost date (32ºF) is April 25. The growing season has lengthened by two weeks since the previous 30-year average spring and fall frost dates of 1950-1980. The Shipping Season for the Great Lakes got underway on March 24, 2026, with the traditional “Top Hat” ceremony for the first downbound freighter going through the Welland Canal. This tradition goes back to 1932 with the presentation of the beaver felt fur hat to the captain of the first downbound vessel (freighter) going through the Welland Canal. On the U.S. side, the 1,200-foot Poe Lock of the Soo Locks in St. Saint Marie, Mich., opened by federal law at 12:01am on March 25. The Poe Lock handles about 88 percent of the cargo passing through the Soo Locks, roughly 80-plus million tons annually. There are 13 freighters over 1,000 feet long, with the largest being the Paul R. Tregurtha, referred to aa the “Queen of the Lakes” and measuring 1,013.5 feet long. The most famous freighter is the SS Arthur M. Anderson for being the last ship to be in contact with the SS Edmund Fitzgerald before she sank on Nov. 10, 1975. The Arthur Anderson is currently laid up in Toledo, Ohio, due to the market for mid-sized vessels (767 feet) and required maintenance. Sprayer calibration is a job required at least once a year for farmers with a restricted use pesticide certification. However, all farmers need to calibrate so they can be confident to apply the correct rate of pesticide necessary to do the job without wasting money or harming the crop or environment. Calibrating a field sprayer can take about an hour or less if it is in good working order and the tank is about half full of water. Of the three steps required for calibration, normally nozzle spacing does not change, leaving checking ground speed and the nozzle flow rate being the other two steps. When buying new sprayer nozzles, it is recommended to buy one extra nozzle and get the nozzle catalog. The catalog should give nozzle spray rate and calibration information, and the extra new nozzle can give a flow rate comparison to the nozzles on the boom if necessary. “Product of the U.S.A.” is a new voluntary label reserved for meat, poultry and egg products from animals that were born, raised, harvested and processed in the United States. Although the claim is voluntary, companies or farms using it must meet a transparent and verifiable requirement. This announcement was given on National Agriculture Day by USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. |
