The Lansing State Journal
Dry times
Area farmers await crop-saving
rains as corn, soybeans wilt
By Sharon Terlep
July 29, 2001
WILLIAMSTON - Jake Whamoff's dusty rain gauge tells what's happening to his
33 acres of browning cornstalks. It holds 0.3 inches of July rain - nowhere
near the 2.5 inches that typically falls.
What some are calling the driest period since the drought of 1988 has the state
and region's top two crops - corn and soybeans - in danger of shriveling in
the fields, according to the Michigan Farm Bureau.
"It makes you sick to your stomach when you look at it," said Whamoff,
peering over 6-foot stalks that should top 12 feet by now. "Sometimes I
just don't want to even come out to the fields."
State farming experts say up to a third of Michigan's corn is at risk, creating
the potential for farmers in Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties to lose a combined
$13 million.
Insurance will cover some of that, and farmers increasingly have better policies,
said Larry Ackerson, a senior officer for GreenStone Farm Credit Services in
Mason.
But policies often only pay production costs, he said - not lost profits.
Without rain soon, farmers raising other Michigan crops - including potatoes,
hay, apples and dry beans - could be in trouble too.
Mid-Michigan is among the hardest hit by the heat and lack of rain. Some areas
of the state have gotten up to 6 inches of rain since July 21 but towns like
Williamston, St. Johns and Charlotte - where farmland is abundant - have had
less than an inch.
There's a chance of showers and thunderstorms late today and again on Thursday,
according to the National Weather Service.
Based on lake and groundwater levels, mid-Michigan isn't in a drought. But it
is by agricultural standards, said MSU's Jeff Andresen.
"Things are pretty serious," said Andresen, a Michigan State University
Extension specialist in agriculture meteorology.
The parched period comes at or near the most critical point in the growing season
for soybeans and corn.
Combined, the two crops bring in $730 million statewide and about $80 million
in Clinton, Eaton and Ingham counties. Most of the corn is sold to feed livestock,
rather than as produce.
Showers have danced across the state, sidestepping the Lansing area and troubling
local farmers as they watch for thunderheads and track daily forecasts on The
Weather Channel.
Wednesday's sprinkles taunted farmer Gary Higgins of Corunna.
"We were hoping for an all-night soaker," he said after a light rain
barely wet his soybean fields. "But you can still walk across the lawn
and pick up dust. The grass still goes crunch-crunch."
Without at least an inch of rain in the next week, area farmers - including
Whamoff - could lose 30 percent of their corn.
And then there's his 75 acres of soybeans.
If the dry spell continues into the heart of August, soybeans - the state's
No. 1 crop - might not grow well either.
Even if the rain predicted later this week comes, it won't be nearly enough
to keep the corn alive, said St. Johns farmer Larry Nobis, who runs a 3,200-acre
farm north of town.
His field needs an average of an inch a week for the next three weeks for a
healthy fall harvest, he said. Already, Nobis has lost about 20 percent of his
corn. Without rain by next week, he expects to lose 70 percent.
"Every year you dream that you're going to have a super crop," he
said. "But it doesn't happen much."
And while conditions are desperate for corn and questionable for soybeans, they've
been nearly ideal for the state's $9 million wheat industry, said Jim Hilker,
a marketing specialist for MSU's extension program.
That crop could have a near-record year because the wet spring helped it grow.
Then the dry summer kept mold away and helped the wheat dry faster in the field,
Hilker said.
"Dry weather made the harvest nice," he said. "But unfortunately,
farmers have a lot more corn and soybeans than wheat."
Hilker said consumers won't pay more for produce because the drought hasn't
affected a sweeping area of the nation.
Although the 90-day forecast calls for normal temperatures and rain this fall,
that probably won't come soon enough for Michigan farmers.
Corn is in the vital pollination stage, where the tassels drop pollen onto the
ears to make them grow. This is when corn needs the most water. If it doesn't
get enough, the kernels won't grow.
August is the most important time for soybeans. That's when the plants flower
and the beans mature.
In addition to likely low yields, prices are low for soybeans and corn this
year - which also will cut profits for farmers. But government subsidies will
help bring the prices up, Ackerson said.
"It's not a crisis yet," he said. "We won't really know until
the crop is harvested."
Mike Turner, who runs Jorgensen Farms grain elevator outside of Williamston,
sees and hears the farmers' angst.
When a group gathers there, the forecast is almost always what they talk about.
"Everybody's concerned," Turner said. "You can do the best job
of putting in crops you've ever done. If you don't get rain, you don't get a
good crop."
Turner estimates that the area's already lost 10 percent to 20 percent of its
corn and soybeans. Turner hasn't seen it this bad since 1988, when a drought
dried up rivers and withered crops nationwide.
That drought - one of the worst in the century - lasted three months and drove
up crop prices. It also slowed the nation's economy by about 7 percent.
Record-high temperatures of 99 and 100 degrees were set then for Lansing in
May, June and July.
Corn and soybeans aren't the only crops affected by the hot, dry weather. Apples
in some parts of the state are small and continued dryness could stunt hay,
dry beans and potatoes, farmers and agriculture experts say.
Livestock is safe for now since animals are generally fed from last year's grains,
Hilker said.
For Whamoff, waiting is his only option. As he sits inside his shiny John Deere
tractor overlooking his field, the corn is mostly green and taller than the
average person.
But the ground beneath is cracked and dry. Leaves along the bottom of the stalks
are brown and curling.
Whamoff's stalks should be twice as tall as he is.
"It's in the second stage of drying up right now," he said, pointing
to weakened leaves.
"Will you please make it rain?"
Contact Sharon Terlep at 377-1066 or sterlep@lsj.com
Publication
Terlep, Sharon, 2001, Dry
times Area farmers
await crop-saving rains as corn, soybeans wilt, The Lansing State Journal,
Sunday, July 29, 2001
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