Green Bay area farmer not worried about dry spell yet
DE PERE -- The chance for rain bypassed most of southeastern Wisconsin on Monday, June 11th, and the upcoming forecast calls for dry days. Most areas haven't seen meaningful rainfall for two weeks.
With corn in the ground and an already thin wheat crop, farmer Ray Diederich says even with the dry conditions, he's not too worried. After about 30 years as a dairy farmer, Diederich has learned to make the best of the weather he's dealt each day.
"I guess I don't get real excited about it. Make the best out of it. One of the nice things is we are cutting some grass for the cows today, some late-season grass and so it's going to dry real well and we'll be able to put it in without rain," Diederich said.
Diederich admits his day's activity is a bright-side approach without much thought for when water will be on the way.
"It's not really worrisome yet. If you get some rain this week or next week, it's still pretty good. That'll work alright. If we don't, then it could get a little more serious," Diederich said.
Diedrich's view of the dry spell isn't much different than those in charge of construction projects in Wisconsin.
"We take into account all kinds of weather, because when we get a stretch of nice, dry weather and we get ahead, then we always get some rain or some bad weather or something slows us down," Kim Rudat with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation said.
Rudat says the DOT doesn't admit when a project is ahead of or behind schedule. However, Rudat did say with some thanks to the dry weather, all Green Bay area construction projects are on schedule.
Diederich says he'll take it...especially considering the alternative.
"A normal summer, you usually get a couple of dry weeks. It's just pretty early this year. You kind of got to learn to deal with it and figure out what to do with plan B," Diederich said.
Germantown Fire Department officials have said because of the dry spell, a burning ban has been issued, effective as of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 12th.