STOCKTON, Iowa -
Tonight, farmers near Stockton, Iowa have a better idea of just what yesterday's storm will cost them. High winds and hail damaged several thousand acres of corn and soybeans in that area Thursday. News 8's Chris Williams was there when an agriculture expert offered his insight.
Shredded green strings blew in the breeze on this hot moist morning. Farmers say the corn here was much better off before the skies grew dark 24 hours earlier. In fact, it was tough to see the dirt in between the rows of stalks reaching for the sky.
"It looked good before the storm came through. Just like a wall of water then the hail in between blowing like mad", explained farmer Ralph Keppy.
What to do next is on everyone's mind here so they came to pick the brain of Iowa State Extension Field Agronomis, Virgil Schmitt. He recommended they all contact their insurance agents then, after a well listened to talk, they marched into the field on the hint of some possibly good news.
Schmitt dug, knocked the dirt off, cut and passed around the young plants before delivering his advice.
"Take about a week to ten days, do a little fishing, come back and then take a look to see what you got here", Schmitt recommended.
"It is comforting to say you can look at a field that is pretty chewed up, like this one, and say there's a 90 percent chance of respectable harvest yet", said Russ Guerink who farms nearby.
Schmitt thinks most of the crops will bounce back, although it won't be a perfect harvest. He looked at the soybeans and delivered the same message; doing anything now will cost more than it's worth. While most agreed, some aren't so sure.
Mike Holst is one of those farmers who's not quite sure, "It's hard for me to look out here and say that we got close to a 100 percent yield potential, yet, we're all gonna learn out here this year and hopefully we're all gonna be pleasantly surprised" 24:49"
Holst plans to look into more options to improve his yields. It's not that he dislikes fishing, he's just not ready to leave his livelihood up to the elements. He's already seen what that can do this week.
About two dozen farmers attended today's meeting. Some, who've worked that land for decades, say it's the worst hail damage they've ever seen.
Shredded green strings blew in the breeze on this hot moist morning. Farmers say the corn here was much better off before the skies grew dark 24 hours earlier. In fact, it was tough to see the dirt in between the rows of stalks reaching for the sky.
"It looked good before the storm came through. Just like a wall of water then the hail in between blowing like mad", explained farmer Ralph Keppy.
What to do next is on everyone's mind here so they came to pick the brain of Iowa State Extension Field Agronomis, Virgil Schmitt. He recommended they all contact their insurance agents then, after a well listened to talk, they marched into the field on the hint of some possibly good news.
Schmitt dug, knocked the dirt off, cut and passed around the young plants before delivering his advice.
"Take about a week to ten days, do a little fishing, come back and then take a look to see what you got here", Schmitt recommended.
"It is comforting to say you can look at a field that is pretty chewed up, like this one, and say there's a 90 percent chance of respectable harvest yet", said Russ Guerink who farms nearby.
Schmitt thinks most of the crops will bounce back, although it won't be a perfect harvest. He looked at the soybeans and delivered the same message; doing anything now will cost more than it's worth. While most agreed, some aren't so sure.
Mike Holst is one of those farmers who's not quite sure, "It's hard for me to look out here and say that we got close to a 100 percent yield potential, yet, we're all gonna learn out here this year and hopefully we're all gonna be pleasantly surprised" 24:49"
Holst plans to look into more options to improve his yields. It's not that he dislikes fishing, he's just not ready to leave his livelihood up to the elements. He's already seen what that can do this week.
About two dozen farmers attended today's meeting. Some, who've worked that land for decades, say it's the worst hail damage they've ever seen.
