By KEVIN WALKER

Michigan Correspondent

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Experts from Michigan State University extension are concerned about a greater number of ruts in fields this year than usual, especially in western Michigan.

Extension specialist Mike Staton is based in Allegan County. He said he’s seen more than the usual number of ruts in fields there. There are a few different reasons for this, going all the way back to last spring.

Late planting last spring led to a later harvest; however, some extremely hot days in September also led to a delayed soybean harvest in some places.

When soybeans get too dry they can shatter at pre-harvest as well as during harvest, according to experts. Soybean shattering means the pods open up and the beans fall to the ground.

When producers decided not to harvest until later because of one or more of the above problems, they ended up harvesting their crops later, when the fields were wet. That led to more ruts in fields from the equipment. Staton said there are also underlying conditions that contribute to this problem.

“We have really fine soils in western Michigan and there isn’t as much tile drainage on the western side of the state, either,” he explained.

Though, he added, he’s not sure how extensive the lack of tiling is in other areas outside of Allegan County. Fine soils, which are clayey, can become compacted when exposed to moisture. Staton added these fields will likely be planted later this year as well.

Agricultural engineer Mark Hanna said if the rut isn’t any deeper than planting depth, it doesn’t need to be repaired.

“Ruts in the soil surface should be no deeper than planting depth; otherwise the planter will have difficulty covering the seed furrow,” he said in an email exchange. “Light secondary tillage with a field cultivator or disk should be able to level ruts of moderate depth.”

MSU extension recommends secondary tillage implements such as disks, field cultivators, soil finishers and vertical tillage for repairing ruts 2-4 inches deep. For ruts deeper than 4 inches, a chisel plow may be necessary.

“We’re really not saying that the bottom of the rut should be opened up, we’re just saying that the grower level out the rut to make it more even,” Staton said. “I’m not sure producers always understand that.”

If the bottom of the rut is opened up, he pointed out it could cause more soil smearing and compaction. Soil smearing is the localized spreading and smoothing of soil, often by slipping tractor wheels.