(Spencer)– There’s mounting concern over a lack of subsoil moisture this fall and the impacts it could have on the upcoming growing season.
Iowa State University recently completed its fall survey of subsoil moisture in northwest Iowa. It found the amounts of available moisture well below average. Subsoil moisture at sites in Emmet, Dickinson, Clay, Buena Vista, Pocahontas and Sac counties ranged from 1.4 inches to 5.8 inches of plant available moisture.
Paul Kassel, an ISU Extension Field Agronomist, says in spite of the dry conditions last summer, most of the area still produced excellent corn and soybean crops. He says that’s because the root systems were able to go deeper than five feet to tap into moisture that was available at that level. Kassel says that moisture is now depleted as well and unless it’s replaced yet this fall or next spring, yields next year will be much lower.
Kassel says this will be the third consecutive year with extended dry conditions and that conditions going into the 2013 crop year may represent “the largest crop production risk in terns of the effects of long-term drought conditions”.
