PITMAN - While walking over a field where he plans to plant alfalfa for his Holsteins, Jim Hepler said the soil felt a bit dry Wednesday.
"It's sort of like it was last year," said Hepler, 60, owner of Hepler Homestead Farms.
"That's what my gut's telling me," said his son, Jesse, 36.
Jesse Hepler got that impression as he removed rocks from another of the family's fields using a tractor dragging a dirt sifter, what he called a "rock picker."
"Last year, we had the alfalfa in the ground by the end of March. We're now waiting for moisture. I plan on planting next week, as soon as it rains," Jesse Hepler said.
On Wednesday night, about 0.72 inches of rain fell in Schuylkill County, according to Elyse Colbert, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, State College.
"Until the rain on Wednesday, things were actually starting to get pretty dry, so this rain was needed," Elizabeth A. Hinkel, district manager of the Schuylkill Conservation District, Pottsville, said Thursday.
In the last few weeks, there have been warmer temperatures and a lack of rain, she said.
"But we've actually had more precipitation this year than last, with late snows and rain in March," Hinkel said.
From Jan. 1, 2012, to April 10, 2012, the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program site in Mahanoy City recorded 5.8 inches of precipitation.
From Jan. 1 to April 10 this year, the Mahanoy City COOP site recorded 9.32 inches.
From Jan. 1, 2012, to April 10, 2012, the COOP site in Tamaqua recorded 7.25 inches of precipitation, and from Jan. 1 to April 10 this year, the Tamaqua COOP recorded 8.96 inches.
"So we're actually a good bit ahead from last year's time," Aaron Tyburski, an NWS meteorologist, said Thursday.
With sunny weather and warmer temperatures this week, farmers in Schuylkill County had the opportunity to start preparing their fields.
There are 966 farms in Schuylkill County that make up about 118,000 acres. The average size of a farm in the county is 123 acres, Hinkel said.
Usually, farmers start preparing soil for field crops, like corn, soybeans, alfalfa and rye, in March, according to Hinkel, a sixth-generation farmer. But while farmers need rain to sow seeds, Hinkel said soil temperature is also critical.
"This year, the cold weather just didn't want to break. Corn is one of your first crops. Corn needs a soil temperature of 50 degrees to germinate. Anything below 50, the seed's just going to sit there," she said.
"We pretty much went from winter to summer in one week. You blink and you miss it," Tyberski said Thursday, reading data from the Mahanoy City COOP. On April 2, the high was 38 degrees, and it was 56 degrees by April 5. On Monday, the high was 73 and on Wednesday, it was 81, Tyburski said.
"This week, it warmed up. The sun was out. They were getting the fields ready to plant. Last year in March, we had above-average temperatures and farmers had a lot of time to prepare the fields and they were planting early. This year in March, the farmers were waiting to get out in the field. Field conditions just weren't right to get in to prep fields," Hinkel said.
Heavy rain is in the forecast today, according to the NWS website at weather.gov.
There will be a 100 percent chance of precipitation in the Pottsville area with up to an inch of rain possible. The high will be near 58 degrees, according to the site.
There's a 20 percent chance of showers Saturday and it will be partly sunny with a high near 56 degrees, according to the site.