In the Southeast a serious drought occurred over from Nov. 1985 to August of 1956. Many farmers failed to get a stand. If they were lucky and had a rain or shower of 1 or more inches they got a stand and after 10-11 weeks they ran out of water. Some used irrigation to get plants up. By conserving what moisture was in the profile by keeping weeds off and preventing excessive growth of cover crops (not over 4 inches) water already in the soil profile is sufficient to permit obtaining an adequate stand by scraping off dry soil down to visible moisture. Planting about 1/4" deeper than normal for the same time of year,and pressing soil to a higher level than usual allowed satisfactory stands and growth to about 10 weeks without serious water stress.