-Farm News photo by Lori Berglund
Brown fields and black soil are waiting for farmers this spring. In Hamilton County, shown here, soil was listed as abnormally dry as March arrived.

It’s only March. So much can change. Farmers know that better than anyone, and in just a few weeks the outlook for soil growing conditions can be turned upside down.

Still, it’s good to know how the season is starting, and the trend to dry weather seems to be holding true as winter exits and spring begins.

“Our soil moisture conditions are drier than usual this time of year,” said Angie Rieck-Hinz, Iowa State University Extension field agronomist. “Some places in north central Iowa in particular are drier this year than they were last year at this time.”

The winter snow pattern often favored southern Iowa, with only a few major snowfalls in many areas north of U.S. Highway 30. Of course, winter snowfall doesn’t always bank a lot of soil moisture that crops can access during the growing season.

As March arrives, it is bringing in a few more late-season snowfall chances, and some of that moisture can be a welcome relief for farmers.

“It seems like all of our moisture is coming late winter versus early winter,” Rieck-Hinz said. “The snow will melt in a day or two and we’ll get some infiltration in the couple of inches of soil that are thawed. Once we fill up those inches we’ll get some ponding, then we can see run-off, but we’re not to that point yet. The water is slowing seeping into the soil.”

As of March 3, nearly 57 percent of Iowa was listed as abnormally dry, including much of the Farm News readership area, according to the USDA Drought Monitor. Nearly 36 percent of the state was in a moderate drought. This includes Woodbury County, extending southwest to parts of Carroll County, as well as northern areas extending north from Wright and Franklin counties. Parts of eastern Iowa are also included in the moderate drought area.

One year ago, those figures were markedly less, at about 35 percent for abnormally dry and close to 17 percent for moderate drought. While remaining acres, nearly 48 percent, were considered normal or not affected by dry or drought conditions at this time last year; only 8 percent of Iowa acres are counted in that number this year.

At this early point, the numbers are not a major concern for Rieck-Hinz.

“In the first week of March, the Drought Monitor does not concern me too much because the ground is frozen in most places,” she said.

“I’m not a climatologist,” she added, and so she’s not making any predictions, but she is happy to talk about making the most of whatever the season brings.

“What we are concerned about is when we have growing crops, will they be able to pull from deeper depths once we get some roots down and the moisture we need to sustain smaller plants with shallow roots for the first month or so until we can get some good root growth,” she said.

Looking back at the 2021 growing season, Rieck-Hinz said it was often a case of “spoon-feeding” the crops the moisture they needed to perform — and perform they did.

“More than once we kind of took that crop to the brink, and then got a timely rain that really helped us out.” But when harvest came, “we saw some really good yields,” she said.

As for the spring planting season, it’s overall soil condition, rather than soil moisture, that the agronomist focuses on most intently.

“We want our soil temperature at about 50 degrees and trending upwards for planting corn,” Rieck-Hinz said.

Planting before the soil reaches 50 degrees is a risk/reward decision each farmer must weigh.

“There’s a lot of things I want to think about if I’m going to plant corn a little before those soil temperatures get to where we want them,” she said.

If the soil is both cold and wet, the risk of disease climbs.

“How many acres I’ve got to get over is another issue,” she continued. “As long as the ground is not overly wet, so that we rot seed in the ground, a lot of guys are willing to take that risk, hoping to see increased yields with earlier planting.”

Yet another trend is seeing soybeans go in the ground before corn. Again, it’s a risk/reward decision.

“In the last couple of years, we’ve seen a lot more people plant some beans before corn, with the idea that those earlier planted beans can yield really well, which is true,” she said.

The risk comes in the possibility of a late frost.

“Last year the Memorial Day frost was really abnormal, but even an average frost the first week of May, with beans, we’re probably going to lose those beans,” she said. “Whereas if we frost corn, we usually don’t lose the entire corn plant.”

Risk and the weather, it’s the same story year after year. The year ahead is sure to bring unforeseen challenges, but for now, it’s full speed ahead into spring.

“It’s a little too early to be overly-concerned about whether we’re going to be dry or not,” Rieck-Hinz said, adding that the weather pattern in early March is tending to bring in enhanced chances to bank a little moisture.

“As long as we can slowly infiltrate that water and capture it, that will bode really well for planting,” she said.