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Is there any risk to buying a home on land that was used as cornfields, for decades? Chemicals in the ground, soil, water, etc? Does anyone know how long those chemicals stay in the ground?
"Does anyone know how long those chemicals stay in the ground?"
Depends on the chemical. Go to the Farm Service Agency in your county armed with a map of the property, they will know who the owner was, what crops were grown and what chemicals he/she typically used for a given crop. When you know the chemicals, you can now do your research into the residual effects.
Actually that should be very good soil. No carryover herbicides. Corn is similar botanically to grasses so you will be fine. The strongest pesticides used are probably for insect larvae and for safety reasons they should have acceptable half lives.
Down here there are thousands of houses built on former corn, as well as tobacco, fields and except for the minor drooling issue there aren't many issues. They haven't decided whether the drooling is because of the fields or the type of rural pioneers who moved here.
One other thing you might want to check into would be drain or "field" tiles. There can be drainage systems in place that would come up when doing any excavation.
Anecdotal, but I have a buyer that did that very thing about 5 years ago, home in the middle of an 18 acre cornfield. He's had no issues and still loves the setting. He actually leases the fields out to a local farmer and makes income off it. Even with it being an active field it's been all good for him, no problems at all!
Dead baseball players might occasionally appear in your backyard and try to play a game?
Ha! Brilliant! My previous home was built on old farmland, some of which was undoubtedly used to grow corn. It was the richest, most beautiful soil I've ever had to garden in, and the water table was so high that pretty much everything I planted grew exuberantly.
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My previous home was built on old farmland, some of which was undoubtedly used to grow corn. It was the richest, most beautiful soil I've ever had to garden in, and the water table was so high that pretty much everything I planted grew exuberantly.
