Cool, wet weather conditions are expected to continue this spring, which may result in stand establishment and soil compaction concerns for many Hoosier farmers, says Corey Gerber, director of the Purdue Crop Diagnostic Training and Research Center at Purdue University.

“Typically, those farmers who need to prepare ground for the planting season are in the fields about now, but not this year,” says Gerber. “It’s just too wet. Either on ground needing spring tillage or on no-till ground, farmers may be left with getting seed into the ground at the risk of soil compaction.”

Soil compaction restricts rooting depth of corn and soybean plants and, because of this, limits soil moisture availability to the plants later in the growing season, explains Gerber. “When compaction issues are combined with cool temperatures, the seed will tend not to germinate as quickly as we would like,” he says. “This is when diseases and insects like wireworm and seed corn maggot readily attack the seed, potentially resulting in uneven stand establishment and lower plant populations than originally desired.”

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Source: Purdue University Extension