Statewide Iowa — Fall arrived just last week, and the Iowa Department of Transportation is already looking ahead to winter by signing farmers up for the Standing Corn Program.
Periodically, severe winter storms will create large snow drifts that close roads and driveways, isolate farmsteads, and increase snowplowing. Many of these drifting problems happen in the same place year after year.
Snow fences have been used for generations. Snow fences are typically made from wood lath or orange plastic. But they can also be made from standing rows of corn.
We talked to Iowa DOT Winter Operations Administrator Craig Bargfrede about their corn snow fence program. He says it’s a program that they’ve run for a number of years.
And he says it results in cost savings to the DOT and the taxpayer. Plus it creates some habitat for pheasants and other wildlife.
Bargfrede says farmers not only get a payment from the DOT for the lost corn, but they may still harvest the corn in the spring.
He tells us how it normally works.
He says that if you have a cornfield along a state highway, you can call your local DOT garage to see if they might be interested in having you leave some standing corn for a snow fence. He says if you don’t know what garage to call or who to ask for, you can just call him at 515-290-2713 and he will help you get in touch with the person who handles the program at the local level.
