By Emily Unglesbee
DTN Staff Reporter
ROCKVILLE, Md. (DTN) ? Fields that were flooded or lay fallow in 2019 may require extra management for the 2020 spring planting season.
The two top concerns will be weed control and nutrient availability issues, particularly a phenomenon called ?fallow syndrome? in cornfields. Brace for high weed seedbanks and the potential need for extra nutrients, scientists told DTN.
Soil compaction may also be a problem if growers moved equipment through prevented planting fields during wet periods. See more on managing soil compaction this spring from DTN here: https://www.dtnpf.com/?.
WEEDS GONE WILD
Last year, a record 20 million acres went unplanted ? but they didn?t stay bare. Weeds, nature?s greatest opportunists, were quick to fill empty fields.
There?s a definite hierarchy of potential weed problems based on your 2019 field management, noted Purdue University Extension weed scientist Bill Johnson.
?Management was all over the board,? he recalled.
