Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Rain, rain go away

Mother Nature showered us with more precipitation today. This brings us to almost 2 inches since last week. Most people think that rain benefits farmers, which in most situations, it definitely does. However, this time of the year, it can create unneeded pressure. You see, farming is all about timing. Corn should be in the fields at a specific time of the year (about two weeks ago). Every day it's is planted late, yields can decrease. Too much rain=not able to get in the fields=stress for the farmers who want to see their crops grow well. 

Rest assured, however, that farmers will not jump the gun to get into the fields before the conditions are right. Going into the fields while the ground is still wet could cause compaction of the soil (the soil will pack down). Compaction can never be completely reversed, so the soil forms a dense layer, and roots cannot push through it. Also, a dense layer hinders soil drainage. Basically, compaction is bad news.

So, until the rain stops falling, we'll find other things to work on. Fortunately, there are always jobs to do! :) 

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