We have had quite a wet year with rain falling so many times it all blurs together. The last three years have been this way with this year taking the cake for wet. I don’t know about those who read this article, but I am getting really tired of mud. I have a whole row of shoes lined up in need of some dried mud removal before I can wear them in the house again. It seems every time I go outside I have contaminated another pair with this sticky goo we call soil.
Our soils in southeast Kansas are very high in clay content making them very sticky. In addition, most of the county is underlaid with a thick clay layer. Clay is made up of very small particles that are packed closely together. This means that the pores that allow water to drain through the clay are very small and these small pores severely restrict water movement through this clay layer.
So we don’t get much downward movement of water so the water must evaporate in order for the soil to dry. During the hot summer months this isn’t really a big problem because of the high evaporation rate from sun warmed soil. This leads to rapid drying due simply to evaporation.. However, during the colder months of the other three seasons, we don’t see much evaporation. So with no evaporation and very limited downward movement of water through this clay pan, our soil tends to remain wet and gooey for extended periods of time.
This wet ground is the enemy of farmers who find themselves waiting anxiously for conditions to improve so they can get their work done. Right now farmers are very nervous about the weather and how it is affecting the harvesting of corn and soybeans. Both crops have been pretty good this year thanks to the summer rains, but all of the wet weather and slow drying soils have really hampered harvest for well over a month. Many fields of beans remain to be harvested and there is still a small amount of corn out there too. In addition, there has been virtually no wheat planted for the same reason and it is looking likely that there will be no wheat planted in our area of the state this year.
So I guess the solution to my shoe problem is simply to wear my rubber boots any time I think I may be walking in mud. Unfortunately, the solution is not so simple for the farmers.
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We have had quite a wet year with rain falling so many times it all blurs together. The last three years have been this way with this year taking the cake for wet. I don’t know about those who read this article, but I am getting really tired of mud. I have a whole row of shoes lined up in need of some dried mud removal before I can wear them in the house again. It seems every time I go outside I have contaminated another pair with this sticky goo we call soil.
Our soils in southeast Kansas are very high in clay content making them very sticky. In addition, most of the county is underlaid with a thick clay layer. Clay is made up of very small particles that are packed closely together. This means that the pores that allow water to drain through the clay are very small and these small pores severely restrict water movement through this clay layer.
So we don’t get much downward movement of water so the water must evaporate in order for the soil to dry. During the hot summer months this isn’t really a big problem because of the high evaporation rate from sun warmed soil. This leads to rapid drying due simply to evaporation.. However, during the colder months of the other three seasons, we don’t see much evaporation. So with no evaporation and very limited downward movement of water through this clay pan, our soil tends to remain wet and gooey for extended periods of time.
This wet ground is the enemy of farmers who find themselves waiting anxiously for conditions to improve so they can get their work done. Right now farmers are very nervous about the weather and how it is affecting the harvesting of corn and soybeans. Both crops have been pretty good this year thanks to the summer rains, but all of the wet weather and slow drying soils have really hampered harvest for well over a month. Many fields of beans remain to be harvested and there is still a small amount of corn out there too. In addition, there has been virtually no wheat planted for the same reason and it is looking likely that there will be no wheat planted in our area of the state this year.
So I guess the solution to my shoe problem is simply to wear my rubber boots any time I think I may be walking in mud. Unfortunately, the solution is not so simple for the farmers.
