Soil moisture has been deficit since July of 2011. However, most of the area produced excellent corn and soybean crops on limited summer rainfall as the crops rooted deeper than five feet. He says without recharge the soil won’t be able to carry a crop through an extended dry period in the summer and result in lower yields.
About 80-percent of rainfall during November, March and April will contribute to subsoil moisture. Kassel says typical rainfall for those months is 4.9 to 5.7 inches.
