By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com

With drought conditions through much of the summer, the rains from this past weekend were a welcome sign to many, however, in the fields it may have done little to increase the harvest’s yields.

On Friday afternoon, a flood watch was issued for the area with rains possibly reaching three to four inches in some areas. Tim Flock of the Crawford County EMA explained that the rains that came were from two frontal boundaries.

“We are watching two frontal boundaries. One coming from the west and one tropical storm remnants,” Flock said.

“The weather says we will get three to four inches, which will help, but it won’t cure the drought,” Flock continued. “We need consistent rains over the next few weeks to bring the water table back up.”

Ron Burkhart, of Burkhart Farms, noted that where the fields have received rain this year, they are doing well, and the fields with little rain aren’t doing as well. Burkhart also noted that the rains, while helping the ground, will only help the quality of the grain harvested.

“Real world crops have become advanced, rain may make us feel better, but it won’t help the outcome of the yields any better,” Burkhart explained.

Burkhart added an old-timers saying about the weather, passed down through his family.

“Dry weather will scare you to death, but wet weather will starve you to death,” Burkhart said.

Niese farms have been experiencing similar conditions in their fields. Rick Niese, of Niese Farms, explained that we are in the peak of the dry season for the area.

“We are in the heart of dry weather, some of the areas have been hit and miss with the rains,” Niese said. “Most of the fields have been a miss.”

Niese echoed similar sentiments to Burkhart regarding the rain helping at this point in the growing season.

“Rains will help put moisture into the ground, but the corn is too far gone,” Niese said. “The yield is already determined. The rain may help the quality of the grain, but it won’t help the yield quantity.”

All is not lost in the harvest as Niese added that the rains could still help the beans.

“The beans could mean more of a yield and better quality with more rain,” Niese said.