Plant 2024 will be impacted by fertilizer prices, drought

Saying the Midwestern weather leading into the 2024 planting season has been erratic may be an understatement.

A bone-dry February led into a fairly active end to March, with much of the Midwest getting pounded by cold temperatures, rain and snow. For some, it still might not be enough to make this spring resemble a “typical” planting season.

A warmer start to March allowed for some field work to get completed, but those who are considering additional tillage may need to give pause if looking at reduced soil moisture.

“Work done in Nebraska showed that tilling soil can result in a 0.5 to 0.75 inch loss of soil moisture for each tillage pass,” said Angie Rieck-Hinz, Iowa State Extension field agronomist based in north central Iowa for the Iowa State extension website. “When soils are already dry, additional loss of moisture can lead to non-uniform germination and emergence.”

For those with cover crops, conserving that soil moisture may mean early termination this season.

“Cereal rye and other over-wintering cover crops have broken dormancy early this year due to favorable temperatures,” Rieck-Hinz said. “This means they are actively growing and pulling up soil water. You may want to consider terminating cover crops earlier than originally planned to conserve soil water.”

She said once terminated, the decaying cover crop will serve as a barrier and reduce evaporation, allowing for more soil moisture retention.

The overall drought situation around the Midwest has improved over the past three months, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. On Jan. 2, 35.18% of Iowa was classified in D3 or extreme drought, but as of April 2, that figure is down to 11.53%. In Missouri, conditions have improved from 30.45% of the state being in D2, severe drought, to now 2.67%.

Illinois hasn’t had the same overall extreme conditions as Iowa or Missouri, and currently has 13.47% of the state at D1, moderate drought.

While some farmers reported having better-than-expected yields despite the drought last year, this year the soils are starting worse than spring 2023.