Farmers could receive up to $1,000 per acre of corn left unharvested
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is asking farmers to consider leaving some corn unharvested near state highways this winter to help prevent snow from blowing onto busy roads.
MnDot began calling on farmers in April to participate in the Standing Corn Rows program. It pays producers to leave corn standing as a living snow fence. Farmers can also receive compensation for using hay bales and silage bags to stop snow from blowing.
Corn producers can receive “about $1,000 per acre for a winter season of blowing snow control protection,” MnDOT said in the Apr. 19 statement.
Growers can harvest the ears by hand if they wish as the program only requires the stands. Or they can wait until spring and combine the remaining corn.
The program is a good opportunity to show the public that farmers are always willing to help out when called upon, said Harold Wolle, a producer from Madelia, Minn. and director with the Minnesota Corn Growers Association.
“The program is targeted to critical areas in the state that have lots of snow drift and I think it’s effective,” he told Farms.com today. “Cars and trucks drive on these roads, and farmers especially know the importance of having trucks arrive on time.
“If, by leaving a few rows of corn standing, we can help people stay safe during the winter, then it may be a good reason to leave those rows up.”
Last winter, farmers along Highway 169 near Belle Plaine, Minn. left 4.55 miles of standing corn with excellent results.
“Drifting in this area has gone down to almost zero, thanks to these local landowners,” Dan Gullickson, MnDOT’s snow control program coordinator, said in the statement. “We thank the local farmers who helped MnDOT’s snow control efforts by leaving standing corn rows along the highway.”
Minnesota isn’t the only state to offer such a program.
Corn growers in Iowa, Illinois, New York and Wisconsin can also receive compensation for using rows as a living snow fence.
Minnesota Department of Transportation photo.