'Mountain of sand' spread across Nebraska farms after floods

Nebraska landowners are seeking new solutions for a millions-year-old phenomenon. Tons of sand, sediment and silt — some in dunes as high as 10 feet — have been scattered across the eastern half to two-thirds of the state by the March flooding. In some areas, washed-out cornstalks are 3 to 4 feet deep. Tree limbs are in piles and topsoil has been washed away. “We have a mountain of sand piled up,” Valley farmer Ryan Ueberrhein said to the Omaha World-Herald. Sediment from Nebraska’s rivers and streams has been deposited on nearby flooded land for millions of years. Now U.S. Department of Agriculture officials, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension specialists and extension educators are trying to figure out what to do with it. They’re racing against the clock because farmers need to plant and ranchers need grass pastures to graze their cattle. Sixteen percent of the corn crop is planted, which is slightly ahead of last year but behind the 23% five-year average. Some ranchers may have to use the land they can, supplement their herds with hay to make up for the loss in production and deal with sand issues later in the summer. Eight inches or less of the sand-sediment mix can usually be tilled into the soil with the right equipment, extension educator John Wilson said. But for others with much larger amounts, it may require removing sand and stockpiling it along the edge or in the corners of fields. In extreme cases, it might be too costly to do anything but leave it...MORE