2014 LOGAN COUNTY FARM OUTLOOK MAGAZINE LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com MARCH 27, 2014 39
For all these reasons, Hatfield urges farmers to
evaluate their farming practices and strive to protect
and build up their soils with organic matter. The
presence of organic matter increases the water-holding
capacity of soils.
One of the setbacks of the current wet spring trend
is a reduced number of planting days. It isn’t your
imagination that there is more to do and less time to do
it. On average, there are now 3.7 fewer days to get in
the field. It has come down to four days in a six-week
window of opportunity for planting in many areas,
Hatfield said.
As a side note, Hatfield cautions farmers to consider
how they cope with new weather-related issues such
as the limited days to get into the fields. By way of
example, he points out that the use of larger planting
equipment can create soil compaction.
Heavy storm events have increased, and with more
heavy rainfall, more erosion.
“If we are going to handle some of these variations,
we’re going to need to improve our soils,” Hatfield
says. “Improving our soils is going to pay big
dividends.”
Hatfield drove home his point on the long-term
benefits of conservation agriculture, saying that in
test plots with no-till, strip-till and conventional-till,
no-till has consistently shown highest yields in wet
years and in dry years. He added: “But for different
mechanisms.”
No-till practices:
• Increase a soil’s water-holding capacity through
improved organic matter content.
• Increase water availability.
• Increase rooting depth “because we’re changing
structure, more stable aggregates.”
Hatfield also recommends the use of cover crops to
improve soil organic matter and conserve water. Cover
crops continually feed soil biology, maintain soil
surface, moderate microclimate soil surface, provide
residue and make advantageous use of light rainfalls
by means of roots near surface that take up water.
Hatfield likes this farming adage about weather: “We
plan for the climate, but we live with the weather.”
He says, “Be prepared for extremes!”
According to the Farmers’Almanac, a cool spring is
in store for the Midwest. This year’s edition forecasts
a few days of unusually cold temperatures offset
by a few above average, but most days will see
temperatures nearest to the freezing mark, bringing
variable bouts of showers and snow showers marked
by very few days of sunshine through the end of April.
By Jan Youngquist
[Bibliography can be found on page 45]
