Soils Saturated Heavily - What Now?

Jan 27, 2023

By Mark Bolda

Along with the rising waters of the past few weeks, concerns about the status of our strawberries have risen as well.

For their part strawberry roots, as you can see from paragraph #6 out of the book "Small Fruit Management” by Galleta and Himelrick, depend on oxygen. Soil waterlogging will kill the feeder rootlets important for plant development and nutrient uptake; of course as conditions improve they will be replaced, but all of this takes time and energy from the plant. The magnitude of damage for each field is going to depend on the length of the waterlogging and the temperatures (read – the warmer the better for the plant). Too, and this is underlined by the writing on paragraph #6, this waterlogging also favors the development and the root invasion of damaging fungi, which for our area usually means Phytophthora.

I've been asked about what the extent of the damage here will be, and of course the answer is going to be it depends. We are already in the main lagging by a week or two because of the cool and dark conditions of the past few weeks, and fields that are saturated or even under water for lengthy periods of time will be set back more than that.

Phytophthora

Source : ucanr.edu

Video: Midwest Weather Shock: Flash Drought Turns Into Heavy Rain Threat This Week (2026 Forecast)

A rapidly changing Midwest weather pattern is unfolding in 2026 as areas that recently slipped into abnormal dryness and flash drought conditions are now facing the threat of heavy rain and repeated storm systems.

After a wet spring erased early drought conditions, regions across Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and northern Missouri have quickly dried out again since mid-to-late May. Soil moisture is dropping fast, and crops like corn and soybeans are beginning to feel the stress of rising temperatures and lack of consistent rainfall. Now, weather models show a major shift.

A developing system moving in from the Northern Plains is expected to bring multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms, with the potential for locally heavy rainfall across the Midwest. While some areas may miss out, others could finally see much-needed relief from the growing dryness. In this video, we break down:

Current drought conditions across the Midwest

Why a flash drought is developing quickly

Timing and path of incoming storm systems

Which states are most likely to see heavy rain

How long this wet pattern could last

Will this rain end the drought or create new flooding risks? Watch the full forecast to find out.