FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Drought continues across northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio. The lack of rainfall is really causing stress on the agriculture industry in our area.
Expanding drought a concern as fall approaches
Crops started out with a decent season, even though Fort Wayne saw the rainiest April on record. This delayed planting slightly, but then things were good. It was a little dry, then rainy, but now we’ve turned very dry…
Joe Hilger, owner of Hilger Family Farm, says normally they are done irrigating crops at this point in the year. This year though, they are choosing to continue to water their sweet corn and next year’s strawberry crops.
Starting with summer crops, soybeans are drying out quickly from the top down. At the top, only tiny, if any beans at all, will be found. The beans will be bigger at the bottom, but the soybeans should be chest high by now and they are not even close. Soybeans can wait for water, but not this long.
Sweet corn is starting to fire up in the fields. This means the corn is starting to turn brown up at the bottom and is working its way up. The corn kernels are not going to form very well without getting rain soon. Corn needs quite a bit of water as it is developing.