Indiana farmers concerned about prolonged drought - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

We're on day 15 without rain. To add insult to injury, the temperature is rising and we will see some of the hottest days of year.

Farmers have every reason to be worried. A corn and soybean crop once worth an estimated $8 billion appears to be shrinking in the sun and every day becoming more desperate for rain.

Although dryness is not uncommon in Indiana in the summer, it is unusual for drought to hit in the spring as it did this year soon after farmers planted corn and soybeans, annually the state's two biggest crops.

"We got an inch in May, a quarter inch in June. Typically we would get an inch a week," said David DeVore, Grant County farmer.

DeVore's Grant County farm covers thousands of acres. The stalks are lush and green but getting ready to start growing the actual corn. It's a time when substantial amounts of rain are critical.

"If we go a month or more with out rain, we would be looking at disastrous yields, maybe half to a third of normal," said DeVore.

Corn in Indiana will begin a crucial period for its development in late June and the first half of July - pollination. Insufficient water during pollination can significantly reduce the amount of corn the crop produces by harvest in the fall. Corn in a few fields in southern Indiana already has started to pollinate.

Monday's Department of Agriculture report found 85 percent of Indiana's farm land is already short of water. A quarter of the developing grain harvest is in poor or very poor condition and with each additional day without rain, it's less likely to recover.

Purdue's agricultural economist Chris Hurt is already working the numbers. He figures the fall harvest will be about half a billion dollars smaller than farmers counted on.

Perpetual optimists who even on a sunny day see a chance of rain are hoping for a downpour.

"It always rains in the nick of time. We are hopeful it happens this time too," said DeVore.

Purdue University agricultural experts believe farmers and livestock producers can still recover. While drought so early in the year is drying out crop fields and forages, they say it's not time to hit the panic button - yet.

"Clearly, there are some truly severely stressed regions of the state," said Bob Nielsen, Extension corn specialist." But if you look at the state as a whole, the corn has hung in there amazingly well."

While only 37 percent of this year's Indiana corn crop was rated good to excellent as of June 17, less than 5 percent of the 1988 crop had that rating by then. Yields that year ended up 31 percent below the predicted trend yield for that year.

In 1991, when drought began later in the growing season, about 75 percent of the crop was good to excellent in mid-June. But by the first week of August, it dropped to below 10 percent, leading to a crop that was 27 percent below trend. 

Some of the data in this report was provided by Purdue University.