Government policies have become as important to farming practices and farm income as tractors. One of these unchanged things is spring seeding. For despite the whirring of computer drives or high-tech genetics, or communications which can circle the earth in milliseconds, the smell of the soil in springtime is the same as always. If tillage or planting begins too early, the penalty can be the sight of pathetic-looking crops for the rest of the growing season. But delay can mean lower yields, greater chance of frost damage at the end of the season, and the possibility that the crop won't even get planted before the next rain storm arrives.
Farmers check the springtime soil and the sky, just as their ancestors did for millennia before.
The problems of the past seasons are gone. It's a fresh start. There's no reason not to expect record crop yields in the season to follow. The respite can be short-lived, perhaps ending in a scant two weeks or less, as the worries begin about plants not emerging as quickly, or as uniformly, or as completely, as they should. Herbicides may fail.