2017 Fall Farm Outlook

2017 Logan County Fall Farm Outlook Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS Oct. 25, 2017 Page 15 Developing smart drainage and its role in better productivity L ogan County soils are prime for corn and soybean production and that is what is grown here. The topography is mostly level with a water table that typically starts high in the spring and drops as the season progresses. Corn and soybeans are dependent on the right amount of rain at key times. Plants that develop the deepest roots produce the healthiest plants and highest yields. Under ideal circumstances, moisture levels germinate seed, and then subsurface roots begin their growth in direct correlation to plant leaf development above the soil’s surface. In a perfect timing, the water table recedes allowing oxygen to surround the root, and all season it continues: roots continue to stretch deeper toward the water source with a continuous balance between moisture, oxygen and nutrients. Logan County’s predictably unpredictable soil moisture conditions The challenge to every farmer on earth - the weather. More prominently precipitation - By Jan Youngquist when it falls, how it falls, when it doesn’t fall, and other weather scenarios. The winter of 2013 is a prime example of unpredictability when a so called ‘real winter’ occurred. Farmers probably remember that while picturesque with heavy snow and bitter cold, the soil frost line reached deeper and colder than the current norm. Come spring planting season, soils were slow to warm and quite wet pushing into the narrow window of planting time. It is always a guessing game with different challenges each season. So much so that anytime a measure of control can be added, within a reasonable cost and promises economic returns, it seems like a good idea to research it. Fields often plagued with standing water may hinder planting or harvest - or in midseason can drown standing crops. Where this problem occurs perennially, drainage tiles strategically placed three to five feet below the surface aid at ridding fields of excess water in a timely fashion. Continued ►►