Weather remains modest in Northern Indiana, but some farmers are already preparing for the winter cold.
According to Purdue Extension Agricultural Educator Phil Woolery, tilling fields may already be starting in autumn. Farmers who have already harvested may also be planting cover crops to protect the soil.
“Cover crops will hold onto nutrients and improve soil qualities,” says Woolery. “So those have been coming up.”
Woolery says he’s noticed several fields that have planted cover crops already while driving the area, but says the fall planting will depend on how soon farmers harvest, and their seeding methods.
It’s not too common locally, but Woolery also says some farmers may be preparing to plant winter wheat which will sprout in the fall, survive the winter, and be harvested in the spring and summer months.
Finally, Woolery says area agricultural producers could also be looking to preserve the nutrient content of their soil with phosphorous or lime.
“They’re not going to be doing nitrogen applications because typically in the fall because there’s a good chance that with our soil and our weather that a lot of that nitrogen could be lost by the time the crops need it in the spring,” says Woolery.
Woolery says the harvest is more than 50-percent complete with corn and soybeans in this area, but moisture in the forecast could slow things down a bit.
Cover crops will likely be more common as autumn progresses.
