The Forecasting and Assessment of Cropping Systems (FACTS) from Iowa State Extension and Outreach results as of May 5 extrapolate that Iowa soils a bit drier than neighboring Illinois or Indiana, but shouldn’t be an issue moving forward:
- Moisture below 1’ is more than enough throughout the state. Temperatures overall are good.
- Des Moines lobe has more mineralization overall, because of excellent soil condition (fast planting in the poor drained soils)
FACTS is an ongoing project developed to forecast and evaluate in real-time soil-crop dynamics at a field and regional scale. It uses weather, soil and crop information combined with machine learning to provide industry professionals the information they need to maximize yield and minimize economic impacts.
Sotirios Archontoulis Professor of Integrated Cropping Systems
Dr. Sotirios Archontoulis is an assistant professor of integrated cropping systems at the Department of Agronomy. His main research interests involve understanding complex Genotype by Management by Environment interactions and modeling various components of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Dr...
Mark Licht Associate Professor
Dr. Mark Licht is an associate professor and extension cropping systems specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. His extension, research and teaching program is focused on how to holistically manage Iowa cropping systems to achieve productivity, profitability and en...