Storms that hit Columbus this week caused wind damage to corn crops.

Harold Schwoerer said high winds flattened 30 to 40 percent of the 70 acres of corn he was planning to harvest in early September.

Schwoerer said he grows and harvests the corn on land he rents from a dairy farmer. He then sells the corn to that farmer, who uses it to feed his cows.

“This is just a reality check showing that the weather isn't something we can control,” Schwoerer said of the damage.

“It was a beautiful crop,” Schwoerer said. “It was. Now it ain't so pretty.”

Heidi Johnson, a crops and soils agent with UW-Extension, said corn stalks damaged by the wind are not automatic losses.

“It's still green and it's still growing, so the corn has a chance to 'goose neck' back up,” Johnson said.

“So it gets bent over. But then it can begin to grow back upright again, so it gets a goose neck appearance,” she said.

Schwoerer said he's not very optimistic.

“This may be a loss,” he said. “I don't have a lot of hope for it.”

But Schwoerer said he's not down about the damage. He said dealing with the weather is part of being a farmer.

“We can't control what God and Mother Nature give us,” Schwoerer said. “That's just the way it is. We deal with it year in and year out. But we'll be OK.”

Source - http://www.wkow.com/