Get Ahead of Mother Nature with this Task Checklist
Nov 10, 2026
Tick tick tick. As Mother Nature’s clock ticks, the end of the 2026 season is closer than any of us like to think. And we can’t rely on the weather to cooperate! Harvest is done, but there's work to do before the snow flies.
“Now that it has been raining,” said Ryan Peterson, location manager at Federated’s Osceola location, “we’re starting to see challenges in many different areas. Best to get ahead of them early so the weather isn’t a roadblock.”
Peterson lists a few tasks that you can tick off your list now so you’re not caught out in the cold when the weather isn’t ideal.
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Order your lime. “Get your orders in ASAP,” Peterson said. “We will be spreading lime as long as we can, but we are at the mercy of Mother Nature.” When the fields are wet, getting our semis into the field without getting stuck and making a mess can be a challenge. “We don’t want to make ruts in your fields.” Additionally, we’re on the clock with the lime pits. “When the pits say they are shutting the doors for the season, we are done,” Peterson said. “We try really hard to keep the pits open as long as possible to ensure that we can get your lime applications done, but there is a deadline.”
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Get your fertilizer orders in. “Mother Nature plays the same role with fertilizer that it does with lime,” Peterson said. “We will be spreading fertilizer as long as we can, but it eventually has to stop.”
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Schedule your soil samples. Call your fields in to be sampled soon. The earlier you get them done, the more time you’ll have to use the data to amend your soil as needed.
“It looks like the long-range weather after this week does show a glimpse of hope,” Peterson said. “If that holds, we’ll continue to be able to keep getting field activities completed yet this fall. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the nice weather continues on for many more weeks!”
Don’t wait till the ground is frozen to contact your Federated Agronomist about these tasks. “Once the ground freezes, the party is over until spring,” Peterson concluded.