AKRON, Iowa (KCAU)– It’s that time of year again for farmers to enter the fields and begin the 2023 planting season. However, drought conditions continue to weigh on many people.

“The equipment is all ready to roll,” said Randy Kroksh, an Akron farmer.

While the official start of summer is still months away, the nice weather made it possible for many Siouxland farmers to get preparations underway

“Field conditions are definitely good to be able to get into the field, but they’re definitely dry,” said Leah Ten Napel, the Iowa State University Extension Field Agronomist.

Despite the snow and rain that Siouxland received since the last harvest, Leah Ten Napel, the ISU Extension Field Agronomist says it wasn’t enough to make a large impact on farmers’ fields.

“So it may have contributed a little moisture to the profile. However, a lot of that snow melt because we have frost in the ground does not go towards directly in the ground, and goes more into like our streams and rivers,” said Ten Napel.

“I think our topsoil moisture is better at this point in time than we were last year, but we’re gonna need a lot of timely rain in order to get a decent crop,” said Kroksh.

Randy Kroksh is a bean and corn farmer outside of Akron, Iowa. Kroksh says this year he plans to change up certain aspects of his planting season to insure better crop yields. 

“I’m gonna do a lot more no tilling this year than I normally do. Normally, I’m the kind of guy tends to till the ground once, but I’ve noticed over the past two years that where I haven’t tilled the ground the crop has fared better,” said Kroksh.

However, there is only so much a farmer can do to insure a great harvest. Kroksh says the rest is left to mother nature.

“Just pray a lot and hope for a lot of rain,” said Kroksh.

As a reminder to Siouxlanders, with farming machinery back on the road, drivers need to keep an eye on their surroundings at all times to insure everybody’s safety while driving.