Soil Crusting

Soil crusting is resulting in replants in some areas right now. So, what causes crusting? Soil crusting can occur when heavy rains fall within a few days after planting. When rain hits the soil surface it essentially acts as a hammer on the soil particles breaking them into their individual particles. These small particles easily move with water and then pack tightly together. As the soil dries these packed soil particles create a hard soil surface crust.Soil crusting can reduce plant emergence to the point of needing to replant due to low stands. Soybeans will exhaust their energy trying to emerge from the hard crust which can lead to them breaking their necks (hypocotyls) and breaking off their cotyledons. For soybeans not yet emerged a swollen hypocotyl can be observed (see picture below). In corn you can see a corkscrewed mesocotyl or leafing out underground (see picture below)..Unfortunately, not much can be done for planted fields with crusted soil except potentially using a rotary hoe to break the crust. This comes with its own risks though like breaking the hypocotyl or cotyledons, which is the issue crusting causes to begin with.

Some factors to consider for preventing crusting for future planting is to plant slightly shallower and lift row cleaners to help keep residue over the row so that the residue can act as a shield for rainfall impact. Soil crusting is most common on soils with a high clay or silt content, soils with low organic matter, and fields with low residue cover.