Deep Frost: What It Means for the Coming Season

One of the most common questions I've received lately is whether the deep frost this winter helped crop production. The short answer is yes, but it's not a cure-all.

The freeze did a real service to soil structure. The extreme cold has shattered some of the compaction that built up over time, leaving soils noticeably mellow heading into spring. Field conditions observed so far look good, and the dry weather has helped. That said, one poor decision on a damp field can undo that progress quickly. Compaction can come back just as fast as it left.

The cold snap did kill some insects, but don't count on it too heavily. Many insects burrow deep enough in the soil to survive, and aphids are remarkably cold-hardy, surviving air temperatures below -20°F. There is reason to hope that some insect and disease spore populations overwintering in Iowa were thinned, but at a session I attended at the AAI convention, ISU Extension and climatologists expressed little confidence that this cold snap made a significant dent.

This looks like another year to stay vigilant. Talk with your local SFG agronomist now, before planting season, about fungicide programs and contingency plans for potential insecticide applications on your soybean acres.