MINOT, N.D. – There was a time when rainfall was always a blessing at the farm of Kenneth Topp.
That started to change five years ago with the arrival of a wet cycle that meant too much moisture for some of Topp’s grain land.
He now has 50 acres that grow almost no crop. He believes the abundance of moisture has raised salt levels in the soil.
“We used to raise 100 bushel (per acre) barley and now we can barely get it to grow,” said Topp, a farmer from Grace City, N.D.
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He presented his concern at a session of the Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Tillage conference here two weeks ago. There were at least 80 other growers at the session, suggesting soggy soils have become a concern to many.
Test soil
Dave Franzen, a soil specialist with the North Dakota State University, offered some advice to farmers concerned about wet soil.
He said farmers can expect salt levels to be higher this year in areas with shallower water tables. Soil tests can measure salt levels and point to the need to plant crop varieties with high yield potential that are also tolerant to salt, Franzen said.
In Topp’s case, Franzen suggested planting alfalfa, a crop that uses a lot of moisture and one that could help lower the water table.
Generally, Franzen advised paying close attention to nitrogen, sulfur and iron on farms where soggy soils are a concern.
Nitrogen levels can vary following periods of wet weather. Sandy soils may lose nitrogen through leaching. In heavier soils, denitrification can occur.
Because of the variability that can occur in fields, Franzen recommends composite soil testing as a minimum for determining nitrogen requirements.
Excess moisture can also leach sulfur from sandier soils.
Sulfur loss won’t be a big issue for canola growers, Franzen said, since it is already applied as a general practice.
Pinpoint problems
For other crops, applying sulfur to the entire field may not be profitable. Treating the areas most at risk of sulfur loss, such as sandy hilltops and eroded slopes, may be more profitable, Franzen said.
Wet soils have little effect on the availability of micronutrients, Franzen said. Iron, however, could be one to watch.
Susceptible crops such as soybeans, flax and dry beans are more affected in saturated soils by chlorosis, a yellowing of the plant caused by iron deficiency.
The glut of moisture experienced last year in parts of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and North Dakota will be a factor in iron availability only if normal or above normal rainfall occurs, Franzen said.
