Climate, weather, soil temperature, soil type, fertility level, typography, zone, pest incidence, etc. are all factors that farmers take into account when planning farming activities.  When to till, what to plant, when to control pests, when to protect from frost, when to harvest, etc. are all activities that are dependent on these farming factors.

Through the years, the federal government, state government, universities and extension have strived to help provide farmers with access to the latest information on these farming factors so they can make informed decisions about their farming practices. With the advent of the Internet many of these factors are available online to help farmers quickly access information to make decisions in a timely manner. Above I have discussed the various Pest Alert Newsletters, below are other sources of information that Piscataquis farmers may find helpful.

Weather and climate information from the National Weather Service from several web sites: Local forecasts from their Caribou office Caribou Weather Office or you can call any forecaster at any time of day at 207-492-0182 to discuss upcoming predictions for rain, frost, etc. in your town.  A very interesting site displays graphical forecasts of wind, temperature, precipitation, etc. at Graphical Forecasts. If you are interested in observational data from the past and present you can go to the Utah Site and climate predictions at the NOAA Site .

Soil temperature:  The seeds we plant need a certain soil temperature before they will germinate.  At lower temperatures the germination process is slowed. As the soil temperature get near optimum the seed will have its shortest germination time.  It is possible for soil temperatures to be too high and retard germination. When it rains in the spring the soil temperature is equivalent to the air temperature.  May 10^th after a weekend of cold rains the six-inch soil temperature was a chilly 42 F. For a chart of the current soil temperature and a historical trend, visit Dr. Steve Johnson's Maine Potato Program website.

Soil type and suitability can be found on soils maps of your farm available from the Piscataquis County Natural Resource Conservation Service at 42 Engdahl Drive in Dover-Foxcroft call 564-2321. Or you can go online and get soils maps for your farm and print them off for future reference along with the relative productivity of the soils and slope of the land.  If you are thinking about renting some fields you can go to this site and check out the soil type by going to the Web Soil Survey and click on the green button.

Soil Testing as well as fertilizer, manure, solid wastes and soil amendment testing is available from the UMaine Analytical Lab.  They will also test plant tissue samples for nutrients.  In the spring it can take three to four weeks to get the results back from your tests but at other times of the year it may take only a couple weeks.  Results can be emailed to you and save a couple of days.  Current price for standard soil test is $15 per sample but if you can wait until winter the winter price is $10 per sample.  For more information or to contact the soils lab you can go to their web site UMaine Soil Analytical Lab  or call 581-3591.  We have the soil test boxes and input forms available at the Extension Office.

Elevation and coordinates for anyplace in Piscataquis County can be accessed through Google Earth For example the Piscataquis County Extension office is 379 feet above sea level located at 45"10'58.41" N, 69"13'25.69"W. Some farmers have GPS units to map their fields.  

If you would like to investigate some of this information but don't have access to the Internet or would like some help negotiating the various sources of information you are welcome to contact me or the organization or agency that runs manages the site.