Iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC) is a physiological disorder caused by a lack of iron in the soybean plant which creates the “chlorosis” symptoms. Plants with IDC have yellowing (chlorosis) beginning between the veins and progressing to a generally chlorotic canopy. Other symptoms include reduced plant growth and ultimately, lower yields. Yield reductions from IDC are a primary limitation for some farmers in certain fields.

The weather we experienced this winter has caused difficulties for everyone, but for farmers, the winter of 2018-2019 has led to uncertainty when in the hopes of a normal spring planting season.

Across a large swath of the Northern Corn Belt, especially those areas where alfalfa is an integral crop, a late, wet Autumn resulted in saturated soils going into the winter months. Compounding this situation were the late December rains (in some locals approaching 2.0 in.), an extremely cold January, persistent low temperatures throughout February and multiple heavy snow events in early March. As of March 13, 2019, when this article was written, Minnesota has experienced our second inch of cold rain.  And though the snow depth has gone from 26 in. to a level of 18 in. in the past 36 hours, the chances of injury to our alfalfa crop is higher than normal this year.