Last week’s strong winds, heavy rain and hail covered a hard-to-determine area in several Northeast Nebraska counties.

Some crop fields were wiped out. Some still are standing but in various stages of damage. It’s safe to say the loss was devastating for many.

"Right now, it's a wait and see. This week we'll have a better idea of how it is recovering," said Don Kampschneider, Cuming County Farm Service Agency executive director. “It looks like pretty much the whole of Cuming County was affected — some areas worse than others.”

Kampschneider said it generally takes five days to determine if the corn will come back after injury.

Tim Schroeder, who farms southeast of West Point, agreed that for some fields, it is too early to determine what to do.

"If the corn growth point is still under ground, or above ground but not damaged, a five-day wait would indicate if there is new growth,” Schroeder said. “If there is no new growth, the field may be replanted."

For damaged soybeans, he said, the live leaves and shreds of leaves will be a factor in the recovery, as well as if the weather remains relatively mild.

In some fields, however, the damage was so severe that it wasn’t possible to even determine what had been planted there.

John Wilson of Tekamah, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension educator in Burt County, said hailstones that hit the area ranged from being the size of pebbles to as large as baseballs.

Wilson said he estimates that 50 sections or about 85,000 acres were affected in his county. There is a lot of variation in crop damage. Some area pivots were tipped over because of the strong winds. Some areas were receiving more than 3 inches of rain in a relatively short period of time.

"Hail alone wouldn't be good, but hail with wind multiplies the harmful effect," Wilson said. "A met tower (set up to monitor winds to determine qualifications for a wind farm) recognized wind speeds at 105-107 mph."

Seed corn companies, Internet sites, Extension and agricultural retailers and suppliers are available with information and services to their farmer-customers.

"I'm five days on the job," said Dodge County extension educator Nathan Mueller on Friday. He quickly organized an informational meeting at Uehling on Tuesday, June 10, at 1 p.m. for people in his service area.

Mueller is a Nebraska native, returning to his roots after 14 years with extension in South Dakota.

"Down the road, most likely some farmers may qualify for emergency loans,” Mueller said. “In addition, programs are set up with either crop insurance or hail insurance, which could cover the majority of crop losses. In 2012, crop insurance paid out quite a bit of money to help offset the losses from drought."

Source - http://norfolkdailynews.com/