Farming Prairie Potholes

By Jodi Henke

The landscape of the Upper Midwest is pockmarked with prairie potholes, thanks to glaciers that scraped out the area centuries ago. The potholes fill with snowmelt and rain. Some will eventually drain, but some don’t which has detrimental effects on both early and late crops in a farm field. Research has shown that farmed prairie potholes lose money more often than they make a profit.

Amy Kaleita is an agriculture and biosystems engineering professor at Iowa State University who is studying prairie potholes. She says if you have problems with them, think about things you can do that will improve the infiltration and water holding capacity of the soil.