Heavy rain can delay planting and create problems in obtaining a good stand of plants, both of which can reduce crop productivity. To offset increased precipitation, producers have been installing subsurface drainage to remove more water from the fields.
Soil is a critical component of agricultural systems, and the changing climate affects the amount, distribution, and intensity of precipitation. The increasing intensity of storms and the shifting of rainfall patterns toward more spring precipitation in the Midwest may lead to increased soil erosion on agricultural lands. Runoff from fields moves water and soil from the field into nearby water bodies, and water and soil that are lost from the field are no longer available to support crop growth.
Iowa is the nation’s top corn- and soybean-producing state, and these crops are planted in the spring. Heavy rain can delay planting and create problems in obtaining a good stand of plants, both of which can reduce crop productivity. In Iowa soils with even modest slopes, more than 1.25 inches of rain in a single day leads to runoff that causes soil erosion and loss of nutrients, and under some circumstances can lead to flooding.
