Question

dry out. so, as temperatures in the corn belt have gotten warmer, some farmers have started to plant their crops earlier than they usually do. for example, fred yoder is a farmer in ohio. he told a reporter from the website marketplace.org, \when i was growing up farming with my father back in the ’60s and ’70s, we planted our crops anywhere from the first of may to the end of june. today, we’re planting a lot of our crops by mid-april, trying to beat the heat in the summertime.\ in the corn belt, changes in climate have also led to periods without rain. this is a problem because, like all plants, corn needs water to grow. if farmers can’t grow crops, they can’t sell the crops. then it’s hard for them to stay in business. however, too much rain can also make it hard for farmers to do their jobs. changes in climate have led to more powerful rainstorms in the corn belt. in the spring of 2019, it rained so much that some cornfields became flooded. because of the floods, farmers couldn’t plant until the water cleared out. fill in the blanks to explain why farmers now plant corn in april instead of june. during the summer months, there is a greater risk of the corn plants drying out. farmers now plant their crops earlier so the dropdown with rain, heat, wind won’t harm the corn.

Explanation:

From the text, Fred Yoder says they plant earlier "trying to beat the heat in the summertime". Also, the context is about climate warming and avoiding harm to corn from summer conditions. The other options: rain is needed (but too much is bad, not the reason for early planting here), wind isn't mentioned as a harm from summer. So heat is the correct choice as farmers plant early to avoid heat harming corn.

Answer:

heat