a dry spring

Could be the harbinger of drier weather ahead.  With the temps predicted in the 70s next week and very little snowmelt, even the heavier soils of the Champlain valley will be workable very soon.  That's the good news.  The bad news is with less subsurface moisture, the soil will dry out sooner and drought stress will be more likely if the summer is as comparatively warm as this past winter.  That will be a problem for everything from alfalfa to zucchini, since very few farmers have the equipment or the resources to irrigate.  Certainly the corn and soybeans will be on their own in terms of moisture.  Even high value veg crops have traditionally been grown without irrigation, due to the heavy clay texture of the soil, which holds large amounts of water relatively high in the soil profile.  However, when these soils dry out, it takes an enormous amount of rain or irrigation to restore the balance.  Last summer cycled from very wet early to extremely dry during the heart of the growing season to very wet at the end.  It looks like another wild ride in 2012.  Welcome to the world of climate change.  As they say at the local china shop, "You broke it, you own it".