By Paige Harden, The Republic
pharden@therepublic.com
Bartholomew County farmer Bill Lentz describes his flood-damaged land as another planet.
"When you walk out there it looks like Mars," Lentz said. "You could set a building in the holes where the water washed the ground away."
Lentz said he lost about 30 percent of his crops as a result of the flooding.
"The topsoil is completely gone, and there are big trees all over the place," he said. "It's going to take months of excavating to get it back to decent. Those fields will be a total loss this year."
Indiana Agriculture Director Andy Miller said this month's flooding likely caused the worse disaster in state agriculture history, damaging nearly a tenth of corn and soybean crops and costing farmers upward of $800 million.
"There's probably no sector of our state that's been hit harder than our farmers," Miller said. "Our farmers in the affected counties are suffering significantly."
Preliminary estimates show about 9 percent of the state's corn and soybean crops were flooded. Farmers still are trying to determine whether any of those crops can be saved. If those fields are a total loss, it could cost farmers more than $840 million, Miller said.
"This was definitely the most severe flooding experienced by the farm community," said Mike Ferree, Bartholomew County Purdue University extension educator.
"The most damaged were those along Haw Creek, Flatrock River and the East Fork of the White River. Those in the far east and west parts of the county did not have flooding damage."
Cost of erosion
Jim Mellencamp farms in southern Bartholomew and northern Jackson counties and said he lost about 50 percent of his crops.
"We already replanted, but the problem is the late planting date. We are going to have to have nearly perfect weather conditions from now on to have a decent crop," Mellencamp said.
The erosion likely will be the most expensive flood damage, he said.
"We can replace crops, but we can't replace soil," Mellencamp said. "So much investment is lost."
Purdue University estimates farmers invest about $400 an acre in preparing and planting a field.
"When that soil leaves that field, it's gone," said Jane Hardisty of U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Few farm animals died in the flood, but farmers should be concerned about animal care as they start to recover, said Bret Marsh, the Indiana state veterinarian.
Farmers should make sure animals have clean drinking water and feed, and they should look for unusual behavior or other symptoms of illness. Marsh said farmers should watch for signs of bacteria, such as anthrax, that can live in the soil for years and infect livestock after being disturbed.
Many farmers cleaning up from the floods are wondering whether they can salvage any of their crops as commodity prices rise.
"They know that every bushel is worth a lot of money, and they want to save that if they possibly can," said Charles Hibberd, director of Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service.
Crops that simply got wet might survive, although development could be set back, Hibberd said. Fields submerged in the floods likely will not make it, he said, or could be damaged by pathogens in the dirty water.
Replanting might be an option for some farmers, but it's unclear whether they have enough time to produce a crop, he said.
Planting options
"Some corn is being replanted and with good growing conditions," said Ferree. "Soybeans can be planted as late as July 10 for this part of the state and get a decent yield."
Ferree said farmers should make sure the damage is bad enough to justify replanting.
"For corn especially, they need to make sure it justifies replanting a damaged stand because of the yield loss with replanting this late," he said. "Soybeans can have a 50 percent stand and still produce a good yield compared to starting all over by destroying the existing stand."
He said farmers should consider placing individual plants - rather than replanting the entire field.
"If evenly distributed, a thin stand can produce a good yield as compared to starting all over at this late point in season," he said. "Grain sorghum might be an option for late-season grain crops if corn is out."
Ferree said hay crops also were damaged.
"Making dry hay with these crops is not as good as grass or legume hay. The price of hay was already high and with (this) year's growing season it will continue to stay expensive."
Agriculture officials urge farmers to contact them quickly to explore options for help. Thirty-seven counties are eligible for aid after being declared federal disaster areas.
Associated Press contributed to this article.