A Marathon County farmer says he estimates the storms on July 19 and 20 are costing him between 40 and 50% of his corn crop yields this season, an estimate he says is echoed among many farmers he knows. The corn right now doesn't look too concerning when passing fields on the road, but once you walk inside a field, the damage is apparent. Town of Franzen farmer John Hoffman says the problem wasn't just the high winds, but the timing of the storms. "When the corn starts to put out a tassel," he explained, "It goes through a rapid growth stage." During that time, the corn stalk is at its most vulnerable--and he says for most areas, the corn was in that stage when the storms hit. The stalk vulnerability contributed to the crop-robbing phenomenon that Hoffman showed us on Thursday: green snap. Green snap happens when high winds cause the corn stalks to break, which at this stage in growth, produces irreversible damage. "This is the worst green snap we've ever had," Hoffman said of his more than a decade in farming. "This field probably lost 40% of the bushels, and it could be as high as 50." Another problem is an issue called "goosenecking", he explained, where the stalk lays flat along the ground after high winds but is able to stand back up. The stalk, however, is weaker afterwards--and while it's still possible to retrieve the ear of corn, there can be issues involved--like the ear of corn weighing down the stalk until it's back on the ground. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is encouraging producers to report damage like Hoffman's, as well as structural and livestock and other agriculture-related damage. That helps them decide whether to declare a disaster area for the county, USDA Farm Service Agency State Executive Director Sandy Chalmers explained. "Things like damage to Ag buildings or damage to land that's in production, seed losses, pasture losses, livestock losses, and any kind of ag-related damage or loss," Chalmers said. For Hoffman, he says it's a hard loss to swallow. "A wind event hits and it turns into this, and it just hits you in the gut," he explained. Wisconsin Emergency Management is increasing their damage estimate to $14.3 million on Thursday, up from $11.2 million. Source - https://www.wsaw.com