This has been one of the coldest winters in recent years.
Kentucky-based Syngenta agronomist Chuck Leonard says while it may make us uncomfortable it does provide some benefits as we head into the 2014 growing season.
"I see cold weather as a benefit," he says. "With the freezing and thawing of the land we get a lot better translocation. We'll break up those compaction layers that we may or may not have created over the past few years. It always helps."
Leonard tells Brownfield he'd even take a winter with not a lot of snow coverage.
"If you've got a lot of snow cover the ground in insulated," he says. "But the harder we can freeze the ground, and not just that one deep thaw-but the days we can get that freezing and thawing action is nothing but positive agronomically for us. Not just insects, but soil structure, and disease pressure."
Source: www.brownfieldagnews.com