Farmers who are eager to get their crops in the ground will have to be patient following this week’s rainy weather.
Purdue Extension Educator for Agriculture and Natural Resources Eugene Matzat explained why it’s critical for farmers to sit tight for the time being.
He shared, “Excess moisture not only can cause problems with compaction of the side wall but also those wet conditions are conducive to rotting seeds and some of the other diseases that affect emerging seeds or seeds that are just planted.”
Matzat added that each field will dry up at a different pace as it depends on the location of the field and the make-up of the soil.
For instance, a field that is flat will have a harder time draining than one that is on a slope. Additionally, the contents of a farmer’s soil can either help the field dry up more quickly or cause the moisture to stick around longer. Farmers may also invest in used farm equipment to help prepare their land for the next planting season.
Matzak explained, “Where soil texture is pretty sandy, there’s not as many pores and the pores in the soil particles are larger and so gravity has a chance to pull that water out of there quicker than if the soil is more of a combination of sand, silt and clay.”
In the meantime, Matzat said if farmers can, they should be walking their fields to ensure there’s free access for water to drain away.
He advised farmers, “Maybe there’s some improvement to drainage, either tile outlets, to check those to make sure that they’re not blocked or to make sure that some of the draining ditches that can get some of this water moving away aren’t blocked.”
While it’s too late for farmer’s to put cover crops in now, Matzat noted that is something they may want to look into in the future. He said having living plants in the field can help take up some of the moisture more quickly than in a bare field and the plants can protect the soil throughout the winter time.
