Tid Bits

[Hobbyfarmer]

Americans Get Front-Row Seat For Lunar Eclipse

April 9, 2014

By Marcia Dunn, AP

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- North and South America, get ready for the first eclipse of the year-- in color.

Next Tuesday morning, the moon will be eclipsed by Earth`s shadow. This total lunar eclipse will be visible across the Western Hemisphere. The total phase will last 78 minutes, beginning at 3:06 a.m. EDT and ending at 4:24 a.m. EDT.

The moon will be rising in the western Pacific, and so only the last half of the eclipse will be visible there. In much of Europe and Africa, the moon will be setting, so there won`t be much, if anything, to see.

Even though the moon is in the Earth`s shadow, it should appear a bit colorful, some shade of red or orange. That`s from light around the edges of the Earth -- essentially sunrises and sunsets -- splashing on the lunar surface and faintly lighting up the moon, said Alan MacRobert, senior editor at Sky & Telescope magazine.

On April 29, the Southern Hemisphere will be treated to a rare type of solar eclipse.

In all, four eclipses will occur this year, two lunar and two solar.

[buckfarmer]

Probably be to cloudy to see.

[ECIN]

OH COME ON HERE BUCKY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There's that dam half emply glass !  It's a NEW season - The glass is half FULL - lol

[too close for comfort]

Hi Hobby, There is a total solar eclipse going to be showing across the center of the country in 17. Is it gonna be close to you?

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html

[Hobbyfarmer]

Looks to be about a 100 miles from the red line.

[Hobbyfarmer]

Well the super duper rain gauge is thawed out, and counting the moisture in the snow, I got 3.28 inches of liquid sunshine from Sat night till now.

One event "fixed" the moisture deficit on the river bottoms. Water standing where I found the weather balloon Sat morn.

[Hobbyfarmer]

Wheat has been the upside leader today.

Much of the concern in the wheat market giving us some premium is that there are forecasts out that look like we will see lower to mid 20's across the western plains tonight. In order to see damage to the jointing wheat we will need to see lows below 24 degrees for 3-4 hours and lows below 12 degrees for 6 hours to affect the tillering wheat.

The market will c ontinue to hold some weather premium in that market until it is able to see how much damage actually happens.

On a positive note, the midday models from the GFS are calling for a quarter to an inch of rain across western Kansas and much of Oklahoma later this week. This will be very welcomed as it has been very dry in those areas.

As we take a look at the GFS model for the midwest, it does look like it is serving up a drier forecast with better prospects for planting progress for next week. So far we have had a lot of divergence between the GFS and the EU model.

The EU model has been calling for some warmer temperatures and less moisture, giving us better planting progress. This looks like, with each run, what the GFS model does continue to move also. We are expecting to see some better planting progress next week.

As the situation in Ukraine continues, premium has been added to all markets. There is still uncertainty that is happening in the eastern part of Ukraine. They are definitely wanting more freedom and the government is still unsure of how exactly they need to proceed. This will keep some uncertainty under this market.

[Hobbyfarmer]

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MARKET COMMENTARY April 14, 2014

Raymond Jenkins

In a short 24 hour time period this weekend, we went from powder dry conditions to being “well soaked” and wondering how long it will take to resume fieldwork given the current conditions and the forecast for some more rain late in the week.

A broad swath of the area where we originate the Eddyville corn supply received rainfall ranging from 2 to 5 inches, and it came spaced out over a full day or more. That amount of rain is enough to change a person’s opinion on the “never going to rain again” mentality that was becoming prevalent as the dry spring progressed into the middle of April.

We can now forget about folks planting large amounts of corn prior to the crop insurance date like a few previous years.

Wheat was the overnight and day session leader for several reasons. First, moisture amounts in the super dry Plains area were quite limited. Second, there is a possibility of a freeze in that same area, and lastly, the Ukraine/Russia situation seems to have been cranked up a notch or two over the weekend. The net result being 18-22 cent gains in Chicago and KC wheat futures, with corn coming along for the ride to the tune of 4-5 cents.

Corn inspections can only be described as spectacular, with a 57 million bushel number this week, far above the upper 30 number needed to reach the USDA number for the current marketing year.

[Shaggy98]

We were forecasted to get .8" to 1" rain yesterday and got nothing. Until it's falling I'm not counting on anything.

[Canuck5]

IF, this rain happens (maybe a big if), will it help you much?  It looks to me if it moved a bit further to the west, it would be more beneficial to HRWW.

I suppose if it freezes before this forecast for rain happens, it might not be beneficial at all.  Looks pretty cold tonight......