Soil Temperatures
Amy Timmerman, Extension Educator
Author
03/30/2023
Added
2
Plays
Description
We are at the beginning of planting season. The biggest thing we need to look at now is soil temperatures.
Searchable Transcript
Toggle between list and paragraph view.
- [00:00:00.740]This is Amy Timmerman with Nebraska Extension.
- [00:00:03.952]Holy Cow! It is hard to believe that we in the
- [00:00:06.402]last week of March and April is knocking on our door.
- [00:00:09.307]With April knocking on our door that typically indicates
- [00:00:12.787]we are at the beginning of planting season.
- [00:00:15.272]For some of our fields we still have some snow
- [00:00:18.267]present depending on where we are at.
- [00:00:20.672]But, before we start getting out onto those fields and planting those seeds,
- [00:00:24.293]the biggest thing we need to look at right now is soil temperatures.
- [00:00:27.843]Soil temperatures is the first starting point for us to have a successful crop.
- [00:00:32.657]When the soil temperatures are at optimal temperatures for the seeds
- [00:00:35.897]that we are planting, the seeds are able to swell, germinate,
- [00:00:39.757]and start growing like gang busters and give
- [00:00:42.112]us the optimal yield that we are looking at.
- [00:00:44.557]So how do we determine what our soil temperatures are?
- [00:00:48.087]We have a great resource at cropwatch.unl.edu/soiltemperature.
- [00:00:53.467]This data on here is from the Nebraska State
- [00:00:56.480]Climate office and from Nebraska Mesonet.
- [00:00:59.493]This is updated daily.
- [00:01:01.513]If you go to the map you are able to look
- [00:01:04.153]at various spots in the state where
- [00:01:06.814]they're collecting data and they will give you
- [00:01:09.002]daily average 4-inch bare soil temperatures
- [00:01:12.053]and they will also provide weekly average
- [00:01:14.153]4-inch bare soil temperatures.
- [00:01:16.253]So, as we look in our area, we are ranging on average
- [00:01:20.058]as of Wednesday, March 29
- [00:01:24.166]anywhere from 32° to about 39 to 40° F
- [00:01:29.454]depending on where you are at in the state.
- [00:01:31.503]So this is a great place to go - look at it.
- [00:01:34.453]However there are so many things that
- [00:01:36.238]could impact your soil temperature.
- [00:01:38.023]Are you a no-till?
- [00:01:39.265]So how much coverage do we have on that field
- [00:01:41.775]that is going to slow down
- [00:01:43.335]that temperature warming up?
- [00:01:46.075]Do I till my fields? Do I still have a lot of snow cover?
- [00:01:50.075]So one of the easiest ways is for you to go
- [00:01:52.075]out and collect your own soil temperatures.
- [00:01:54.075]You don't need to go out and buy a special soil thermometer.
- [00:01:57.425]You can get away with using a basic meat thermometer
- [00:02:00.515]that you can buy from the grocery store.
- [00:02:02.375]All you are going to do is take that thermometer out,
- [00:02:04.885]stick it down in that soil profile, give it about 5 minutes to adjust
- [00:02:08.219]to the climate and to the soil and to see what your temperatures are.
- [00:02:13.115]For me, I'm located in O'Neill.
- [00:02:15.278]On Monday, when I went out,
- [00:02:16.518]when I was looking at bare tilled soil
- [00:02:19.133]I was running about 37° F.
- [00:02:21.748]When I looked at a no-till, that has
- [00:02:24.293]been grazed by cattle, with some coverage yet,
- [00:02:28.683]I'm running about 35° F.
- [00:02:30.853]And so it gave me a really good idea where I'm at.
- [00:02:33.673]That soil temp is going to give us an indication
- [00:02:36.033]of how soon we are going to plant.
- [00:02:37.648]If you are looking at spring planted forages
- [00:02:39.718]such as oats, spring barley, spring wheat, spring triticale,
- [00:02:43.653]those plants are going to germinate at 35° F.
- [00:02:46.878]So we are right on the edge of getting those plants into the ground.
- [00:02:51.384]If you are looking at a traditional corn and soybeans,
- [00:02:54.454]we want to wait until those soil temperatures are about 50° F.
- [00:02:57.514]So we need to give it a few more weeks
- [00:02:59.334]and depending on what our weather cycles
- [00:03:01.214]are going to be that soil may warm up very quickly
- [00:03:03.924]or we may need to delay planting by a few days
- [00:03:07.164]to a week to allow that soil to warm up
- [00:03:09.746]to where we need to optimize that seed
- [00:03:12.929]to be able to germinate and grow as quickly as possible.
- [00:03:15.866]If you have any questions about soil temperatures,
- [00:03:18.756]please reach out to your local extension educator.
- [00:03:21.596]This has been Amy Timmerman with Nebraska Extension
The screen size you are trying to search captions on is too small!
You can always jump over to MediaHub and check it out there.
Log in to post comments
Embed
Copy the following code into your page
HTML
<div style="height: 5.62em; max-width: 56.12rem; overflow: hidden; position:relative; -webkit-box-flex: 1; flex-grow: 1;"> <iframe style="bottom: 0; left: 0; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; border: 0; height: 100%; width: 100%;" src="https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/20580?format=iframe&autoplay=0" title="Audio Player: Soil Temperatures" allowfullscreen ></iframe> </div>
Comments
0 Comments