Dry conditions all year, especially throughout the fall, have led to a significant decrease in corn and soybean crop yields in Floyd County.
Floyds Knobs farmer Larry Buechler, also owner of Buechler Fertilizer and Seed, said he and other farmers were optimistic earlier this year that the lack of rain would lift. However, as the months passed, hope dampened significantly as the rain just did not fall.
Corn crops are about half what they normally are this time of year, and soybean yields about 70 percent of normal. This also has affected the availability of hay in the area, as farmers barely have enough for their own cattle, Buechler said.
"A lot of people are looking to buy hay and none of us really have any to sell them," Buechler said. "Farmers try to stay optimistic, but as time goes on and the dryness continues, it just gets harder to have a highly positive outlook."
The soybeans also are physically smaller than normal, said Tom Springstun, an agricultural extension educator in Floyd County's Purdue University extension office.
"It has been unusually dry all year," Springstun said. "This also affects lawns, landscaping and fruit."
Though rain in the area is about 9 inches less than average, a sudden deluge would probably cause more harm than good, Springstun said.
A sudden storm would cause problems with mud and erosion, and possibly even damage crops further with torrential rain and high winds. It could also delay farmers further from working their fields.
"We need a good, slow steady rain," Springstun said. "Unfortunately for the farmers, we can't control Mother Nature."