The dry conditions that have allowed harvest progress have also resulted in a bigger threat of fire. While a burning combine and charred grain field are a big enough loss on their own, South Dakota State University field agronomy specialist Ruth Beck tells Brownfield there are also long-term production issues.
“We lose that residue that protects our field through the winter, we see soil erosion from wind, dust storms can pop up from those types of things, but not just that, there’s a lot of nutrients held in that residue,” Beck told Brownfield Ag News.
