Jim Wenning shows that corn stalks have already grown tassels even though the dry hot weather has stunted the growth of much of the corn in this area. (David Burns / C-T Photo)
At a glance
The problem: Henry County received about half an inch of rain in June, about a fraction of the amount it normally gets.
The result: Soybean plants are about half the size they normally are and don't have room for many bean pods. Corn stalks are growing tassels while they're at least 3 feet short of the height they should be, and the tassels are growing faster than the silks they need to pollinate.
The concern: Farmers are already expecting smaller crop yields than normal. Now, they're worried that if the county doesn't get more rain over the next six weeks, they may not have much of a crop at all.
Jim Wenning watches the corn tassels waving in the wind and shakes his head.
The New Lisbon farmer grew up working in his family's fields and has owned crops since 1986. But he can't explain what he's seeing now.
He sees 5-foot-tall corn stalks grow tassels when they should be 8 to 10 feet tall. His soybeans are less than a foot tall when they should have at least doubled in size by now.
Wenning, who's also Henry County Farm Bureau Inc. president, knows the severe drought conditions he's seen so far will at least cause smaller ears of corn and fewer bean pods. Standing in a field Monday afternoon, though, he said he's still not sure how bad it will get.
He and other farmers are facing conditions they haven't seen in nearly a quarter of a century. They said the weekend rain was welcomed, but it wasn't enough to make up for the month of dry weather that is already wreaking havoc on their fields.
Now, they're counting on crop insurance and crossing their fingers for rain and more moderate temperatures to get them through the year.
"There's no way we'll have full recovery to normal yields," Wenning said. "There's already been damage done. Right now, we need rain, and it needs to be sustained over the next six weeks, to stop the damage from getting worse."
Henry County is facing its worst drought since at least 1988, said Bob Nielsen, a Purdue extension agronomist who specializes in corn.
Last month, National Weather Service spotter Mike Gerth tracked 0.53 inches of rain. That's a fraction of the 4.69 inches the county normally gets, according to NWS observations program leader Earl Breon.
The weekend rain helped, but Gerth measured just 0.3 inches from Friday afternoon to Saturday morning. Other areas closer to where Friday's storm started may have received about an inch.
And though there are chances of rain in the coming days, weather is expected to stay hot and dry.
Wenning said the dry conditions have severely stunted the growth of his corn and soybeans.
In a normal year, corn stalks would be 8 to 10 feet tall by the time they developed the tassels that are crucial to the pollination process. Meanwhile, the corn silks would also grow long enough that the pollen could reach them
This year, his corn is 5 feet tall at best. And though the corn silks are starting to sprout, they're far behind the tassels in development.
In a best case scenario, Wenning will harvest smaller ears than normal and will lose some of his profits.
There's a worst case scenario too.
The next couple of weeks are pivotal to whether kernels develop on the ears at all, Nielsen said. Corn needs moisture for the silks to grow out of the husks in time for the pollen to reach them. Otherwise, they might not emerge until the pollen is completely gone.
He said the weekend rain may have saved the pollination process. But the ears of corn still might not develop if the rain doesn't continue. It's possible that some crops may not be worth harvesting at all.
"In that worst case scenario, there would be no kernels," Nielsen said.
The problem with soybeans is the stalks just aren't big enough to grow many bean pods. Stalks should be 2 to 2 1/2 feet tall with multiple buds, but this year, most are shorter than 1 foot, Wenning said.
Until the weekend rain arrived, Blue River Township farmer Larry Jester had accepted the fact that he'd have to survive on crop insurance money for the next year. He received about an inch of rain on his nearly 600 acres, an amount that he said was helpful, but it wasn't enough.
He has insurance that will reimburse him for 85 percent of his losses. The money will pay to plant new crops next year, but it won't make up for the profits he won't get for the year.
For now, he's hoping that this weekend's rain won't be the last he sees.
"That inch is not gonna do it at all," Jester said. "I could use an inch every week out until fall. But that's not gonna happen."
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