Corn??? What corn?

[Bubba1235]

Drove to Denver, CO. across Kansas and back this week. I've seen spots of drought striken crops before but NEVER 600 miles of it! I didn't see a decent field anywhere, not a single one! Farm ponds that were little more than a mud puddle at the bottom of what used to 20' of water, creeks and rivers without so much as wet sand in them, yards that looked a lot like death valley. Temps were over 100 the entire way back yesterday, some places were at 105+ degrees! My neighbor cut and bailed my hay. Normally we'll get 15 to 18 bales (big round bales at 1,600 lbs each) off that part of my farm, this time he got five and was surpised he got that many.


Our local forcast for the next week, highs between 102 to 108 every day! I've never seen a heat spell last this long and from what they say there isn't a break in sight. Yeah, I expect to see huge increases in the cost of food by fall and ethanol? Don't think we'll be able to do that this year, not when there isn't any corn to make it from.

Boating this weekend in this heat? Not a chance, I'm staying inside with the AC running.

 

[Redneck_Randy]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

Just read a story on Yahoo News that stated farmers are not even trying to save their crops but instead they are filing on their crop insurance.

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

Your kidding right? you drove to Denver and I didn't get so much as a text?


I'm not your friend anymore.....

But yes the corn is in bad shape this year, hope you had a good trip!

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

Corn plants look good in Central Illinois. Not sure how, but they do.

 

[jkust]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

Lots of heat and rain here in MN. Somehow we are skirting the drought in much of the state. Our lakes are at record high levels.

 

[64osby]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

Not much here without irrigation. Down 12" of rain from normal.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

I have been getting plenty of rain, in fact I havnt had the boat out in 8 days because of it.

 

[ngt]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

GMO corn can burn all day as far as I'm concerned.

 

[T_Herrod]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

I'm in north central Iowa and the corn here is fair at best. Farmers are looking at very low yields and Clear Lake is 17" below it's normal water level. The lake is not very deep when it is full so i'm staying off of it until we get some much needed rain.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

Most of the corn is still hanging on - barely, in the northern half of WI.

Southern half of the state is bad.
Many corn fields have been disc over, with tier wheat or soy being planted over it. They are hoping to get something off the land to feed to the herds.

If it works, they will be ok, but the feed quality will not be good. Still, better to feed them something than let them starve.

Hay crop in the northern half of WI is going to be down about 40% they way it looks now.
It looks like dust in the southern half.

2 of the 5 major reservoirs that feed and maintain the water flow of the WI river have been down 8 feet for 14 months.
The other 3 just finally got filled last month.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

Aside from the fields that suffered damage from hurricane / tropical storm Irene, the crops in VT are running the average schedule.

Swet corn is ready (yum!!!) and many crops are doing good

 

[DayCruiser]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

I saw this old farmer on the news last night saying it was the worst he has ever seen and he lived through the "Dust Bowl". CNN showed a color map of the Dust Bowl days and now. The now was worse and more widespread than the Dust Bowl. I think it is the combination of record setting long term heat and the drought that makes this worse.

 

[jkust]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

Lots more rain last night. Hard to hear the dustbowl comparison when we aren't experiencing it.

 

[the vision]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

I go back to work Monday, from two week vacation and have only had two days without rain. That's two days on the river because of rain/storms. (Wish we could share the rain!) It seams like we are in a bubble that won't let the rain out. And my family in Indiana is in a bubble that won't let the rain in.

 

[bassman284]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

Lots more rain last night. Hard to hear the dustbowl comparison when we aren't experiencing it.

I've seen my deck get damp twice since the 1st of July. Sprinkled for about 4 or 5 minutes each time. Got about an inch and a half to whole month of June. I think the main question for corn around here is whether it's worth chopping for cattle feed. 3-4 feet high with little or no ear on them.

It seems like the only weather options across the country are drought and flash flood. Not much middle ground.

 

[bassman284]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

I go back to work Monday, from two week vacation and have only had two days without rain. That's two days on the river because of rain/storms. (Wish we could share the rain!) It seams like we are in a bubble that won't let the rain out. And my family in Indiana is in a bubble that won't let the rain in.

Yeah, Eastern Iowa is just getting to the point where most of Indiana was a month ago.

 

[theBrownskull]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

If you look at the historical data from the 1930's the drought is taking a similar pattern as the drought during the depression. In South Dakota during the depression big thunder storms would come, thunder and lightning, but no rain. The Missouri River dried up to a trickle, grasshoppers and dust storms along with 110 degree heat during the day. It lasted for almost 10 years and many families lost their farms and ranches. It was far worse in the south. It is unfortunate and hopefully it will not be like it was during the "Dust Bowl Years."

 

[dlngr]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

It's been so dry I found a wasp nest in my gutter downspout this morning.

 

[angus63]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

These graphics from the weather channel really highlight the conditions:

http://www.weather.com/news/flash-drought-comparisons-20120721?pageno=1

 

[southkogs]

Re: Corn??? What corn?

When we drove from Nashville up to Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago I was amazed at the difference. Things looked pretty good even in Iowa, but down here the corn has been gone for a while. Sad too 'cause most of TN was planted really early this year and stood to land a really good crop.