Page 12 October 27, 2015
2015 Logan County Farm Outlook Magazine
LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.COM
I
n 2015, the rains came in the early
part of the summer, after crops were
planted and growing, and also after the
time when replanting of flooded areas
would prove effective. The result, as
mentioned in John Fulton’s introduction,
was that yields on corn ranged from zero
bushels to approximately 240 bushels
per acre, sometimes in the same field.
For the producer, this was a profit stealing
blow, which may have caused them to take
a second look at some of their fields, and
consider what the next step would be in making
that field more profitable.
For many in Logan County, the answer may
have been field tiling. Those in the business of
tiling are extra busy this year, due possibly in
part to the reality of flooded-out crops and lost
revenues this year.
Fortunately for those who can tile, the worst
of the worst may be over. But, there are times
when tiling works, and times when it does not.
Speaking recently with Bill Dickerson of the
Illinois Soil and Water Conservation office in
Lincoln, he briefly outlined the choices area
farmers have when it comes to controlling
flooding.
First Dickerson said there is more than one
type of flooding. Looking at a photo taken
from the air on July 13th by LDN, Dickerson
noted that there were two flooding scenarios
going on in the picture. The photo clearly
showed a creek or stream in the lower right-
hand corner, where water had escaped the
banks and flowed into nearby fields and
woodlands.
Dickerson noted that from a conservation
standpoint, this was not a bad thing, though the
The problem of ponding
Continued
