Showers of blessing fall over county

By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

The hopes of many Marion County residents, especially farmers, were realized last week as a gentle rain fell all day Friday and into the early morning Saturday.

Unofficial totals ranged from two to four inches across the county.

“It was beneficial for the wheat,” Dick Tippin, grain coordinator for Cooperative Grain and Supply, said.

Most wheat fields had enough moisture for wheat to shoot up, but more was needed to protect it over the winter.

Moisture helps insulate wheat roots from the cold, Extension agent Rickey Roberts said, so the rain came right on time as lower than average temperatures are expected starting Thursday night.

The high is forecast at 40

degrees on Friday, with temperatures dipping as low as the teens at night during the following week.

Chances for rain remain in the forecast, although winter wheat doesn’t need a lot of moisture and should be fine until it starts to grow in spring.