DeKalb County farmers may be headed for trouble if cool and wet weather persists.

Although this March has seen more snowfall than rain, Mike Hardt, assistant manager at the DeKalb County Farm Bureau, said most farmers expected last month to be cold.

“It’s not a big factor if it gets warm,” said Lyle Paul, agronomist at the NIU agronomy research center.

But if the same weather continues for 10 or 15 more days, farmers will have to delay planting and planning for the upcoming season, Paul said.

Weather reports predict there will be rain off and on during the next week.

Paul has yet to hear of any other farmers having started working in the fields.

At this time a year ago, farmers could get into the field, Paul said.

As planting continues to get pushed back, Paul said it will slow the farming progress.

If farmers do not begin planting in the next two weeks, Paul also said there would be a reduction in farmers’ predicted yield.

To get into the field, farmers need the temperature to be around 70 degrees Farenheit and need strong winds to dry the soil.

Another factor farmers must consider is the frost line or how deep the frozen soil is.

The large amount of snowfall this past winter may have actually done more good than bad.

Hardt said large amounts of snow insulates the deeper ground and reduces the frost line. Snow is not always the culprit for heavy amounts of moisture in the soil, either. Hardt said 10 inches of snow equals only one inch of rain.

What worries farmers is the length of the winter. Hardt said he did notice this winter seems to be a little longer with more snowfall and ice storms in the beginning of December.

With half an inch of rain, it would take about four to five days to get back to where we were the day before, Paul said.

A big part of actual planning for farming begins around the week of April 21-25. Farmers not only need to put the seed into the ground but they need to prepare the soil and add fertilizer as well.

“[Farmers] need good weather for those steps,” Paul said.