The long-awaited warm weather didn't just make for a pleasant past several weekends. It also has helped put the farm industry back on schedule following a cold start to the year.

Lasting effects from the bitter winter have made things difficult for farmers. The cold soil carried into spring and made it tough for farmers to plant, causing delays and concerns over this year's yields.

But what was a fairly cool spring still managed to warm early enough to allow farmers to make up for lost time.

“It has warmed up back to normal,” said Andy Gaver, a conservationist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Butler County. “Most (farmers) are getting caught up. Their corn is in the ground, beans as well.”

Gaver said the recent heat wave, with some days reaching temperatures above 80 degrees, has helped farmers.

“On the 17th or 18th (of May) it started to warm up and dry a lot of fields out,” he said.

Gaver said the recent weather conditions have allowed farmers to get “mostly back on track.”

Edward Thiele, owner of Thiele Dairy Farm in Jefferson Township, said he is making progress, but is still behind for the year.

“We're still about 10 days back from where we should be,” he said recently. “The weather has caught up, but we haven't.”

Thiele raises corn, soy, oats and alfalfa on his farm. He uses most of it to feed his 85 cattle.

But Thiele said he is confident he'll catch up eventually, assuming they have a full growing season.

“We'll be all right,” he said.

What type of growing season farms will have is still up in the air since there is no strong signs pointing to whether this summer will be hot, cool, dry or rainy.

“It has an equal chance of going any way for the summer,” said Pat Herald, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh. “There's no strong climate indication right now.”

Herald said long-term predictions are difficult to make, so too much faith should not be placed on a small signal of a weather pattern.

“We have to look at everything with a grain of salt,” he said.

Herald said the biggest factor to look at for the rest of the year is the development of a possible El Niño in the Pacific Ocean.

An El Nino is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the tropical Pacific. It can affect temperatures around the globe, including warmer autumns and winters in the Northeastern United States.

The National Weather Service is observing higher temperatures in the Pacific right now, but Herald said it was too early to tell whether the temperatures will result in an El Niño this year.

“We won't be able to tell that until the end of summer,” he said.

Thiele said he doesn't put too much into long-term forecasts, regardless of what they say.

However, short-term outlooks are vital, he said.

“Four of my favorite (websites) on the Internet are weather,” he said. “We live and die by the weather.”

While weather is something to be monitored, Thiele admitted there isn't much farmers can do about it.

“It's out of our control,” he said. “We do the best we can. But it controls us, and we adjust accordingly.”

Gaver said long-term weather predictions are always difficult, adding he is uncertain of how the weather will unfold.

He said the best-case scenario for farmers is a hot summer with rain mixed in.

“They really need rain from mid-July through mid-August,” he said. “But that's typically when it's the driest.”

Gaver said a steady rain is better than short bursts of thunderstorms, which are common in the summer.

“We may get half an inch of rain in 45 minutes, but most of that just runs off,” he said. “Only about a quarter inch actually gets into the ground. Crops need a good, soaking rain.”

While heat and rain make for healthy crops, other combinations of weather can cause havoc on farms.

“A drought would be bad,” Gaver said. “But a cool and wet summer can be just as detrimental to crops.”

Gaver said if it doesn't stay warm, crops become more susceptible to diseases, fungus and mold.

While the National Weather Service is being conservative in its predictions, the Farmer's Almanac's summer forecast suggests good news for farmers.

The almanac calls for a hot and rainy summer in Butler with the hottest periods from mid-June to mid-July.

It also says to watch for a tropical rain threat in mid-July.

Gaver just hopes there won't be a cruel twist of fate to follow the harsh winter.

“With the cold winter we just had, it would be our luck to have a hot, dry summer,” he said.