Eastern Iowa Farmer Spring 2021

mother nature
winter. Vickers, who works with farmers all over
the Midwest, shared that one farmer has always
said, “By the time the leaves on an oak tree are as
big as a squirrel’s ear, you should have your corn
planted.”
Predicting the temperature is always a guess. No
thermometer? No problem. When predicting the
current temperature, one just needs to listen to the
frequency of a cricket’s chirp, according to author
Tom Moore, a retired meteorologist from The
Weather Channel who has heard numerous tales of
weather lore over more than three decades in the
field. Being a cold-blooded animal, a cricket won’t
chirp until the temperature is a least 55 degrees. A
person can count the number of chirps in 14 seconds
and then add 40. Do this a couple of times to
get a good average, and, according to research, this
calculation is good within one degree about 75% of
the time.
Want to know if wet or dry weather is coming?
Moore shared that one can look for dry weather
ahead if spiders are spinning their webs. Spiders
are sensitive to changes in humidity and increased
humidity causes their webs to break. They are more
likely to spin their webs when dry conditions exist.
Windy weather ahead? John Landers, an Illinois
grain farmer who had local ties, gave the best
Matt Vickers,
DeWitt farmer
description, “It’s windy
enough to blow a rooster
into a jug!” He also was one
who always slept with one
foot uncovered. When asked
why he had this habit, he
explained his big toe could
predict the weather, and
his foot reported to him the
temperature.
Looking at local history,
Bonnie Mitchell of the
Jackson County Historical
Society, shared information
on the Tornado of 1896, a
huge storm traveling 25 miles per hour, passing
south of Lost Nation and Elwood, grazing Delmar,
and making its way through Miles and Teeds
Grove.
It ranged in width from 50 feet to 400 feet. It
was reported by many that chickens were running
around naked as the storm plucked off their
feathers, and pieces of straw were driven through
oak posts. Horses were picked up and carried miles
before being set down in a field where they were
found grazing. One can only guess how the Derecho
of 2020 will be described in the future. n
“By the time
the leaves on
an oak tree
are as big as
a squirrel’s
ear, you
should have
your corn
planted.”
— Matt vickers
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eifarmer.com spring 2021 | Eastern Iowa Farmer 85