MUSCATINE COUNTY, Iowa -
The forecast is not making things any better for farmers in Muscatine County looking to finally put a number on their losses from that June hail storm. News 8's Chris Williams returned to the fields to see how things look with harvest around the corner.
The corn stalks just north of Stockton, Iowa were shredded by the June hail storm, today they've rebounded, but some farmers are looking at a 50 percent loss.
Many worked this land for decades and never saw hail damage like this to corn and soybeans. We were there nearly four months ago when an Ag expert offered his best guess. He suggested they take a week to ten days off and go fishing before coming back and seeing what farmers were dealing with.
Some, like Gary Workman, figured it was too late to replant so he took the advice. Mike Holst had more damage to his soybeans than corn and wasn't quite buying the idea of letting Mother Nature do all of the work. Mike replanted. Two weeks later we returned and things had started to heal at Gary's place. Now, nearly four months later, Gary's corn looks much taller but it's not the prettiest corn you've ever seen.
"This one's down", Workman said while pointing about at an ear touching the ground. "See how it's dropped down? You can't get under that."
I asked whether he could pick up the ear with a combine and he answered, "Probably not. You're gonna have a little higher field loss so in terms of the loss that's already here. Salvaging what's there is is gonna be tougher."
His corn began to rebound but he fears a 50 percent loss. Still he doesn't second guess letting nature take its course.
"I think that was the right decision", he said.
Experts figured a new planting wouldn't mature much better than this, so what did he learn?
Workman answered, "Have adequate insurance."
"I'm glad I went out and replanted", farmer Mike Holst told us.
A field of green lies to the south of Mike's homestead.
"I think it's gonna be proven to be the right move come harvest here", he said.
The replant looks to be maturing but even he's not sure how things will turn out.
Holst told us, "Until we get the combines out rolling and see what's out there, it's really tough to tell otherwise"
Now mike and Gary find themselves in the same fix as many across our region. The crops and ground are way too wet which means it could be weeks before they know whether they made the right decisions for sure. Both men say their insurance should help them minimize the losses, but again they won't know for sure until they can bring in what's left of their crop.
The corn stalks just north of Stockton, Iowa were shredded by the June hail storm, today they've rebounded, but some farmers are looking at a 50 percent loss.
Many worked this land for decades and never saw hail damage like this to corn and soybeans. We were there nearly four months ago when an Ag expert offered his best guess. He suggested they take a week to ten days off and go fishing before coming back and seeing what farmers were dealing with.
Some, like Gary Workman, figured it was too late to replant so he took the advice. Mike Holst had more damage to his soybeans than corn and wasn't quite buying the idea of letting Mother Nature do all of the work. Mike replanted. Two weeks later we returned and things had started to heal at Gary's place. Now, nearly four months later, Gary's corn looks much taller but it's not the prettiest corn you've ever seen.
"This one's down", Workman said while pointing about at an ear touching the ground. "See how it's dropped down? You can't get under that."
I asked whether he could pick up the ear with a combine and he answered, "Probably not. You're gonna have a little higher field loss so in terms of the loss that's already here. Salvaging what's there is is gonna be tougher."
His corn began to rebound but he fears a 50 percent loss. Still he doesn't second guess letting nature take its course.
"I think that was the right decision", he said.
Experts figured a new planting wouldn't mature much better than this, so what did he learn?
Workman answered, "Have adequate insurance."
"I'm glad I went out and replanted", farmer Mike Holst told us.
A field of green lies to the south of Mike's homestead.
"I think it's gonna be proven to be the right move come harvest here", he said.
The replant looks to be maturing but even he's not sure how things will turn out.
Holst told us, "Until we get the combines out rolling and see what's out there, it's really tough to tell otherwise"
Now mike and Gary find themselves in the same fix as many across our region. The crops and ground are way too wet which means it could be weeks before they know whether they made the right decisions for sure. Both men say their insurance should help them minimize the losses, but again they won't know for sure until they can bring in what's left of their crop.
