The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) is looking for farmers willing to leave some corn in their fields along state or U.S. highways as a part of their Standing Corn Snow Fence Program. Over the past 20+ years, the program has been instrumental in improving mobility and highway safety. The standing corn slows or stops snow from blowing and drifting across the road. In recent years, the effort has expanded to include the use of round hay bales as a buffer as well. Farmers who agree to leave corn or bales receive $5.50 per bushel for six to 24 rows of corn and $1 per linear foot of bale size. Bales must be left intact throughout the winter. “Research from the Strategic Highway Safety Program shows that it costs 100 times more to plow snow than to trap it with a fence, so the return on investment with this partnership is significant,” says Craig Bargfrede, winter operations administrator. While the DOT works with farmers in advance of planting, they are also willing to enter into contracts prior to harvest. “This year especially we’re aware that there may be some corn that is left in the field. We’d like to partner with those farmers to utilize the corn as snow fence and reimburse them for that,” Bargfrede says. Those interested in learning more about the program can contact their local DOT maintenance garage. Locations and contact information can be found by following the link included below.
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Iowa DOT garage locations and contact information: https://iowadot.gov/districts/district-contacts