By Hope Kirwan
In an ideal spring, Jefferson County farmer Randy Mitchell would be starting to plant his corn and soybean crops this week.
But that work is on pause as he waits for his fields to dry out after torrential rains saturated much of southern Wisconsin last week.
“The planter is ready to go, and our machinery is ready,” said Mitchell, who is president of the Jefferson County Farm Bureau.
Several rounds of severe storms last week caused flooding in communities from Janesville to the Milwaukee area, as well as in northeastern and central parts of the state.
It comes as the planting season begins for much of southern Wisconsin, forcing some farms to delay their work.
Josh Kamps, crops and soils educator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension, said the repeated torrential rains were more than most soils could take.
“Certain fields you can see were at more risk of soil (loss), maybe nutrient loss, with that excess rainfall that could not infiltrate because of a wet week,” said Kamps, adding that lost nutrients could be from manure fertilizer that was previously applied or in the soil itself.
Kamps, who works with farms in Jefferson, Rock and Walworth counties, said the saturation levels of soils can vary greatly from farm to farm, and even within a single field.
Mitchell said he still had standing water on some of his acres Thursday, and so did many other farms in Jefferson County. He said some producers have also had to clear away downed trees and other debris off of their fields.
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