Farmers hoping rainy weekend forecast can turn things around

 

WATERFORD, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Rain in the forecast is a welcome sight to area farmers after a five-week dry spell. The drought is now expecting to have consequences on this year's harvest.

These rows of corn should by now be up to my knees. Their growth is stunted by the lack of rain. Even if we get rain this weekend…will it be enough?

"A little bit's better than none, but it's gonna take a lot more than that to really turn things around," said agronomist Chris Reichert.

We're back in Waterford at Malchine Farms where the soil's even harder than what we found here 10 days ago.

"It's obviously getting enough moisture to hang on and it's quite amazing really that they look as good as they do considering we've only had an inch in the last five weeks," said Kevin Malchine of Malchine Farms.

Advances in genetics set seeds up for seasons like these.

"If we were looking at soybeans 20 years ago, I don't think you'd be seeing. I'd think you'd see dead plants," said Malchine.

Drought conditions are a problem all across our area right now. Chris Reichert's a crop and soil scientist in Sheboygan County.

"Lighter soils are gonna get to that drought a lot quicker than our heavy clay soils. In Sheboygan County, we have quite a difference. In the western part of the county, in the Kettle Moraine, we have a lighter gravel soil. As you get east of Highway 57, we've got a lot more of our clay soils," said Reichert.

You can see there are areas where corn and soybeans seem to be doing better than others, even within the boundaries of Malchine Farms, which is continuing to do what they can, like fertilize and use herbicides.

"You live and die by the rain. It's tough sometimes to keep a positive attitude when it's, when it's just not coming," said Malchine.

As dry days continue, it's a stressful time for this sixth-generation farmer.

"I know tomorrow night will probably be a very long night because if I stir a little bit, I'm gonna be looking out the window to see if there's any rain coming or checking the radar, checking the 10 weather apps that I have to see which one is the most beneficial to me," said Malchine.

Malchine doesn't grow sweet corn, but says that's been affected too, and you can expect to see smaller ears of sweet corn and higher prices this year.

"If we're talking an inch this weekend, we could probably use another inch on Wednesday. We could probably use another inch on Friday. We'll continue to need rain throughout the season especially if we need to make up for some lost time which this crop needs to make up for some lost time," said Malchine.

Even without rainfall in five weeks, we're not seeing signs of stress on this corn. That would make the leaves curl up, get spikey and turn a gray color, kind of like a pineapple. Agronomists say that could happen if we don't see a decent amount of rain in the coming weeks.