ISU Extension crop specialists completed their fall subsoil moisture survey on November 1 in central Iowa. Subsoil moisture levels are surveyed in pre-determined locations each spring and fall, says John Holmes, Extension Field Specialist. Moisture reserves are determined for the top five feet of the soil profile. Across the central Iowa average subsoil moisture levels were 8.4 inches of plant available moisture. Last fall the subsoil reserve average was 6.1 inches --- slightly below normal.
The fall subsoil moisture at the site near Blairsburg is 9.2 inches of plant available moisture, reports Leroy Jensen, Wright County Extension Education Director. Typically the fall level will be 7 – 7.5 inches of plant available moisture. At planting time we hope the moisture reserves are about 8 inches of plant available moisture.
1/19/2007