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News Track: Iowa looking to boost corn snow fence efforts
Iowa DOT paying $6.70 per bushel to leave corn standing along roadways
Iowa has more than tripled the number of acres of corn left standing over the winter to protect roadways from blowing snow since 2016, but the Iowa Department of Transportation is looking for more farmers to boost the program.
Background
Generations of Iowa farmers have used corn windbreaks to protect their homes and animals from wind and blowing snow.
The Iowa DOT pays farmers to not harvest corn running parallel to roads to reduce drifting snow that creates dangerous driving conditions. These natural snow fences can reduce the amount of time and money the department spends trying to clear drifting snow. Less plowing means the roads will last longer.
“If you go back to the research, they say being able to trap that snow saves you nearly 100 times the cost of the fence,” said Craig Bargfrede, Iowa DOT winter operations administrator.
The agency asks farmers to leave between eight and 16 rows of corn standing, especially on the north and west sides of highways and other roads at risk of drifting.
The Iowa DOT started promoting its standing corn snow fence program in 2016 and enrolled 12 acres across the state that year.
The state paid $5.10 per bushel for corn left standing in 2016. Overall, the agency spent about $225,000 that year to pay farmers to keep corn standing along Iowa highways, grow grasses and shrubs as natural snow fences and position bales of hay to stop drifting snow.
What’s happened since
Participation in the corn snow fence program grew to a high point of 72 acres in 2021, which cost the state just over $500,000. Last year, the Iowa DOT enrolled 55 acres sprinkled across the state, but with a higher concentration along Interstate 380 and Highway 218 in Eastern Iowa.
Those 55 acres involved 250 agreements.
“A lot of the farmers who do participate year after year feel a sense of pride that they are helping the DOT,” Bargfrede said. “It's a partnership between them and us.”
These acres of corn snow fences are just a sliver of the 9,617 miles of roadway, including 715 miles of ramps, the Iowa DOT maintains.
Given the return on investment for corn snow fences, Bargfrede would love to have them on every mile of highway in Iowa, but the program’s annual budget is about $500,000.
“That's kind of our limitation right there,” he said.
This year, the Iowa DOT will pay $6.70 per bushel, which is over $2 more per bushel than the average $4.55 per bushel price listed for Nov. 3 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Farmers still may harvest the standing corn in the spring.
Iowa’s increasingly erratic weather, particularly in the spring, may make farmers leery to leave harvesting work for the spring. But the standing corn snow fence has agronomic benefits, Bargfrede said.
“It increases the soil moisture because they are able to trap the snow and it stays there in their field,” he said. This could be especially important in Eastern and Northeast Iowa, which had one of the driest summers on record.
Corn left standing over the winter also can provide habitat for pheasants and other animals.
Iowa DOT staff are working now to sign agreements for standing corn snow fences for this year. If farmers have already harvested, but want to look into a contract for a snow corn fence for next year, they can talk with staff at their local Iowa DOT district offices.
Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com
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