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Wet conditions raise soil compaction concerns across Corn Belt

An extension agronomist warns of long-term consequences if farmers don’t wait until conditions are fit to harvest.

Angie Rieck-Hinz with Iowa State University says activity is stalled in many areas because of wet weather.

“Even the people that I’ve seen that have been in the field, there are already some tracks and ruts out there from those people that were combining a week or so ago. So it was still a little moist from our August rains even at that point in time.”

She tells Brownfield soil compaction can be problematic for several years.

“That’s not a short-term fix, right. That’s not a ‘this fall we’ll fix it with tillage’ or ‘next spring we’ll fix it with tillage.’ That’s something that sticks with us for years, so we just want to bide our time and be able to get back into the field when those conditions are fit.”

Rieck-Hinz says that’s easier said than done because it will probably be a condensed harvest season with crop quality issues across the Corn Belt.