Ready At A Moment’s Notice

 

 

 

 

Last year, wet conditions prompted Kansas soybean farmer Craig Gigstad to do something he normally wouldn’t do. But sometimes, when you only have a small window of no rain, and a forecast that makes it hard to know when you’re next planting opportunity will be, it’s a risk you have to take.

 

“We mudded some beans, which normally doesn’t work,” Gigstad said. “But last year it was just sort of a perfect storm, and it all worked out.”

 

This year, stormy weather kept Gigstad waiting again, but he was not idle. “I’ve planted a very limited crop of irrigated beans for the first time,” he says. “But I decided to wait to get good planting conditions for the rest.”

 

In Kansas, good planting conditions mean temperatures at 60 degrees at a 4 inch soil depth, and a long enough period between rain storms to keep the soil from compacting. While the temperatures were good, finding a window of opportunity in the forecast with ample time between rains has been difficult. So Gigstad again spent a bit more time than he’d like in his shed, catching up on equipment maintenance and other chores.

 

He admits it can be frustrating, but for the past 17 years he’s been using sustainable farming practices. For example, he conducts soil testing on 2½ acre grids, which lets him know how much fertilizer to apply to meet his fields’ needs.