Hot and dry weather hurting farmer's bottomline

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- When vegetable farmer Terri Matthy looks at her crops this year, she's disappointed.

"This week, the heat and drought have been stressful," Matthy said.

She and her husband own and operate Matthy's Farm Market in South Bend. This year, they're doing things like watering more at night and growing different kinds of vegetables to help prevent big losses.

"Over the years, investing in irrigation and things have gotten us over the hump, but it's never enough."

What she needs is more rain.

"If they don't get a lot of rain, soon, this will dry up to nothing - this won't produce an ear of corn," Matthy said while examining a crop close to her farm.

And it could end up hurting her broccoli and cabbage crops too. In addition to the weather being hot and dry, there's so much wind and dust around - it prevents her from spraying pesticides. That slows up the growing process even more.

"Corn is a big crop with a long growing season. It takes a lot - from when you put the seed into the ground in early May or late April to when you harvest in November, you've committed those acres.

And she's committed to not having any losses this year, but the following months leading up to Fall will tell for sure.


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