Barley planting underway

Wyoming experienced above normal temperatures for the week ending May 6, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Mountain Regional Field Office, Wyoming. Twenty of the 34 reporting stations reported above average temperatures for the week with the high temperature of 82 degrees recorded at Kaycee and a low of 19 degrees at Yellowstone. Above normal moisture was reported at 18 of the 34 reporting stations with one station (Evanston) reporting no precipitation. Buford reported the most moisture with 2.28 inches. A reporter from northwestern Wyoming indicated that barley planting is well underway, sugarbeet planting is just getting started, and corn planting will begin soon. A reporter from Southeastern Wyoming reported that April precipitation is less than half of normal, irrigation storage is about half of normal, and range conditions are drying out quickly. Irrigation water supply across Wyoming was rated 2 percent poor, 9 percent fair, and 89 percent good.