With this month being one of the rainiest Junes on record in Illinois, farmers with low-lying field areas around the state are struggling to keep their crops green. As John Fulton, County Director with the University of Illinois Extension, explained Monday, "The excess water makes oxygen unavailable for both corn and soybeans. That’s why they turn yellow. Many low areas are dead or severely affected by all the water." On Monday, National Weather Service summaries for the month showed that Lincoln had received 9.65 inches of rain, making it the third wettest June since 1906. In a normal year, the city would receive 4.32 inches of rain throughout the month. With a total of 17.49 inches falling on Lincoln between May and June, it’s been a rough start to the season for certain fields. "One of the big things is also what can’t be done," Fulton said. "This would include herbicide applications, some nitrogen on corn and even planting things that haven’t been planted yet." Perry Grieme, of Grieme Insurance Agency in Lincoln, echoed that last concern for some of his crop insurance customers, but said that the rain has caused problems for a greater number of farmers in parts of Southern Illinois and Missouri. "Throughout Logan County, for the most part, we’re in good shape because we planted in a timely manner," Grieme said. "In Missouri, it’s a disaster," he added, explaining that thousands of acres of land slated for soybeans won’t be planted in that state this year due to the flooding. Grieme, whose agency provides crop insurance to approximately 500-550 farms in three states, said that this is the exact opposite problem that the area had in 2012 when there was virtually no rain. Every one of his crop insurance customers had to make a claim that year. "The risk in farming is huge," Grieme explained. "There is a fixed cost to putting the crop in the ground- seeds, fertilizer, equipment, chemicals, land cost" and added that the Federal Crop Insurance Act was created as a way to protect farmers when natural disasters strike. He said that it’s difficult to really know the extent of the problems until harvest time, when customers can make claims based on low-yields, should the rain persist or other agricultural calamities occur. "As we all know, we can’t control Mother Nature," he said frankly. "Right now, there isn’t one farmer out there who’s liking all this rain."
Source - http://www.lincolncourier.com/
