Farmers hit hard by rainy summer weather
Posted: Jun 29, 2015 8:52 PM EST | Updated: Oct 11, 2015 2:49 PM EST
The rainy season has brought major damage to crops all across Michiana and corn and soybeans have been hit the hardest.
Farmer Dave Schrock thinks about 40 percent of his field has been ruined because of this unseasonably wet summer.
It's hard to keep crops in the ground when you have several inches of standing water.
“The soil is so saturated that it takes just the smallest amount of rain to get the standing water," said Schrock.
Some of his fields look more like swamps.
“I do not remember a year of farming that we've had this consistent of a wet season,” he said.
Schrock has been a part of this family farm for more than 50 years and the damage is difficult.
"We were kind of headed off for a banner year and hoping to have really high yields so we're probably somewhere 25 to 40 percent off of a banner crop,” he said.
It's a loss that could affect the future of his business and the direction his son, Zach Schrock, will have to take to keep the farm going.
“It's definitely harder for us younger farmers because we don't have the equity that the more experienced farmers do yet but it definitely opens your eyes to show you how much you do really need to be careful and conserve when you can,” said Zach.
Farmer Dave Schrock thinks about 40 percent of his field has been ruined because of this unseasonably wet summer.
It's hard to keep crops in the ground when you have several inches of standing water.
“The soil is so saturated that it takes just the smallest amount of rain to get the standing water," said Schrock.
Some of his fields look more like swamps.
“I do not remember a year of farming that we've had this consistent of a wet season,” he said.
Schrock has been a part of this family farm for more than 50 years and the damage is difficult.
"We were kind of headed off for a banner year and hoping to have really high yields so we're probably somewhere 25 to 40 percent off of a banner crop,” he said.
It's a loss that could affect the future of his business and the direction his son, Zach Schrock, will have to take to keep the farm going.
“It's definitely harder for us younger farmers because we don't have the equity that the more experienced farmers do yet but it definitely opens your eyes to show you how much you do really need to be careful and conserve when you can,” said Zach.
