By Andi Anderson
Across the Midwest, farm fields are increasingly affected by heavy rainfall and poor drainage, creating serious challenges for agriculture. Flat landscapes, while useful for planting and machinery, often struggle to move water away during intense storms.
“Heavier rain is hard for us to deal with because of the poorly drained soils and the lack of any roll to the ground. It's hard for the water to get away when the rain starts,” Dallas said. “We have installed a lot of drainage tile trying to mitigate that.”
Even with drainage systems, extreme weather can overwhelm fields. The spring of 2019 remains a powerful example of the damage flooding can cause to farms and crops.
“2019 was a nightmare. We did everything in the mud and had a lot of crops drowning out,” Dallas recalled. “And on top of that, we didn't get a lot of sunlight that year and the corn was wet. The elevators got really behind, drying it.”
Scientists explain that flooding, also called field inundation, affects much more than planting schedules. It reduces soil quality, increases erosion and nutrient loss, encourages plant diseases and pests, and creates economic stress. These problems also affect farmer mental health and the wider food supply system.
“Everyone seems to be interested in drought and investing resources in breeding for drought tolerance. That’s important, of course. But fewer people in the research community seem to notice that intermittent flooding is a problem throughout the Midwest, and that it impacts everything from crop profitability to soil health to farmer mental health,” Gibson said. “We have to look at this.”
To better understand these impacts, researchers are now working directly on farms. They collect data during heavy rainfall events to measure how soil and crops respond in real conditions.
“The funding agencies are realizing that it will take funding specifically tailored at these more unpredictable problems in real time,” Ngumbi said. “We need that support to get out, get the data sets, and report back what we have found.”
Scientists emphasize that solutions must fit local landscapes.
“No two landscapes are identical. What works for a farmer in Gifford won't work for a farmer 30 miles away in Tuscola,” Gibson said. “In order to create and deliver tailored toolboxes to stakeholders, we have to monitor what’s going on now and try new solutions to see what else might work.”
Farmers say partnerships with researchers bring shared benefits.
“Partnering with researchers is a two-way street. It’s incredibly important for them to conduct research in real-world conditions, across a spectrum of management practices, climates, soils, etc.,” he said. “And we get exposed to the latest research and get to share practical experiences with the team. It’s a win-win.”
Photo Credit: gettyimages-jj-gouin
Categories: Illinois, Rural Lifestyle