As in many parts of Indiana, crops in the west central portion of the state are suffering. In a HAT Field Update David Virgin in Montgomery County said crops look pretty good considering the lack of rain, but it remains unknown just how hurt the crop really is.
And how dry is it?
“We are probably lucky to have an inch total of rain since we started planting in April. The last Saturday we got about a quarter inch. Now we have some rainfall to the west of us in Attica. They got four or five inches, but it stopped just about at our county line. So, yes we are suffering. The question right now is how much longer can this crop sustain and how damaged is it.”
With abnormal dryness to drought in much of the state, there is plenty of reminiscing about the other times it was this parched. Virgin recalls a similar scenario in 1988.
“But we had rain earlier on and it just dried out later. I had a family reunion over the weekend and I talked to a couple of my uncles who are in their 90’s. Of course they talked about 1936. One of my uncles said ‘it was just hot, plain hot. Animals were dying, crops were burning up.’ He said it was so hot they slept outside underneath the trees, they couldn’t stand to sleep in the house.”
Now in 2012 Virgin and others just patiently wait for the sprinklers to turn on again.
“Best thing I did the other day, Friday I called my insurance man and made sure I was up to date. It’s kind of a somber time. We are all sitting around waiting, wondering what is going to happen.”[audio:https://www.hoosieragtoday.com//wp-content/uploads//2012/06/David-Virgin-crops-suffering.mp3|titles=David Virgin crops suffering]
Hear more from Virgin in the HAT Field Update at the Agronomy page, sponsored by Advanced Ag Solutions.