Planting into poor soils costs farmers money

Janelle Atyeo
Feb 9, 2021
Feb 9, 2021 Updated Mar 2, 2021

Saline soils — High salt concentrations in soils can greatly affect plant performance. Planting in salt effected soils requires careful plant species selection in order to maintain productive plant performance and improve soil quality over time.
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Patches of some fields in eastern South Dakota are as barren as the moon because they suffer from high salt and sodium content, but new programs aim to help farmers work around or reclaim those acres using certain management practices.

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Saline soil — A white, crusty surface is typical of soils with high salinity. “Those saline areas in the field are just deserts,” said Matthew Hubers, NRCS Day County district conservationist. “They don’t produce crops, and they don’t produce wildlife.”
USDA NRCS South Dakota photo

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Janelle is editor of the Tri-State Neighbor, covering South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, northwestern Iowa and northeastern Nebraska. Reach her at jatyeo@tristateneighbor.com or follow on Twitter @JLNeighbor.