#delayed crops

Early planting difficulties could come into play later this year related to the first frost. Monday’s U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Crop Progress continued the run of poor numbers showing the condition of corn and soybeans in the U.S., something the country’s farmers know all too well. For the 7th straight week, the condition of corn and soybeans considered “good” or “excellent” has been 60% or lower. Monday’s USDA report had the good-or-excellent condition of corn at 58% and the condition of soybeans at 54% in 18 key corn- and soybean-producing state.

Earth is about to be strobed by three streams of solar wind–each flowing from a hole the sun’s atmosphere. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the gaseous spigots on July 29th These “coronal holes” are places where the sun’s magnetic field peels back and allows solar wind to escape. Coronal holes look dark in extreme ultraviolet images of the sun because glowing-hot plasma normally contained there is missing. These are “coronal holes”–places where the sun’s magnetic field peels back and allows solar wind to escape. Coronal holes look dark in extreme ultraviolet images of the sun because glowing-hot plasma normally contained there is missing. The first of the streams is expected to arrive on Aug 1st, followed by two more in rapid succession on Aug. 4th. Polar geomagnetic unrest and possibly some minor magnetic storms are possible on those dates. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras, especially in the southern hemisphere where winter darkness favors visibility. http://spaceweather.com/