RAIN BRINGS RELIEF FROM HEAT

A little rain and cool weather was just what area farmers needed to give growing crops a respite from July's scorching sun.

But enough is enough, said Terry Birk, county director for the Farm Service Agency.

Temperatures over the weekend didn't top 80 degrees, and a steady rain fell over most of Southeast Missouri.

"Generally it's good news for farmers," Birk said. "It was hot and dry last week, and those conditions put the crops under some stress. The crops that were irrigated were doing well, but the heat takes a toll on those fields as well."

The four or so inches of rain that had already fallen replenished dry soil and rejuvenated soybeans and corn plants.

The wet weather comes at a good point in the growing season, Birk said. The wheat harvest is finished. The corn harvest will begin in late August, and the soybean harvest will begin in September.

The forecast calls for more rain and continued cooler than average temperatures through the middle of the week.

Bob Watson, forecaster with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., said the cool, damp weather is expected for at least a couple more days.

"This is just a little respite," Watson said. "We will get back to reasonably warm temperatures by the end of the week."

Late July is typically a hot, dry time of year.

The current weather pattern is more typical of late spring or early summer.

"We have a stationary frontal boundary that is keeping the upper air moving," Watson said. "To the north of the boundary, air is cool and skies cloudy. The south is blocked off and receiving all the hot air coming out of the southwest.

"People and crops in Texas are still baking while we're experiencing these cooler temperatures."

The front will pass and the heat will return, Watson said.

For some farmers, more rain in the forecast isn't welcome.

"Some people really have had enough rain and some have had too much rain," Birk said.

When the soil becomes water logged, the moisture chokes off oxygen to the plants and prohibits growth.

"Let's just hope it holds off a little," Birk said. "You know what they say. It's either too wet or too dry. That's the way it goes."