Latest hail storm battered crops

Aug 11, 2009      Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

Matthew Wilde

Aug. 11, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- ELDORA -- More ice has hit crops than rain these days. At least that's what it seems like to frustrated farmers.

Hail ranging from 1 inch to 3 inches in diameter driven by winds in excess of 70 mph shredded corn and soybeans in Hardin County on Sunday. The worst damage centered in and around Eldora and Owasa.

Several major hail storms have pummeled crops in Northeast Iowa this summer. The latest storm left a path of destruction about 4 to 5 miles wide near Highway 175, starting just north of Hubbard and ending about 16 miles east near Highway 14.

State officials, including Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey, toured the area Monday assessing damage. No estimate of acres affected were provided.

Northey said since it's so late in the growing season, farmers have little recourse from the storm's damage.

"If you didn't get that (hail), then it's a wonderful rain. If you did, then it's the end of your season," Northey said.

Put Mike Teske in that category. Out of 1,000 acres of corn, between 700 to 800 were wiped out. Five hundred acres of soybeans didn't fare much better.

"There's nothing left. I'm talking zero," said Teske, who farms 5 miles northwest of Eldora. "I could look out in the cornfield and see a deer plain as day. The beans are just like a lime green mat."

Besides his fields, Teske's house sustained major roof, siding and window damage. Two machine shed doors were ripped off and a 10,000-bushel grain bin was destroyed.

The property and crops are insured, but he scaled back crop insurance coverage in recent years as margins dwindled. Teske is hoping to salvage some corn for livestock feed.

"I'm not sure if I'll break even or not. It will depend if we get a little yield out of what's left," he added.

Chris Balvanz, manager of Prairie Land Cooperative in Cleves, inspected customer fields on Monday. He said possibly 25,000 acres were decimated.

"Everything in the middle of the storm was pretty well totaled. I saw a corn field that was knee high and soybeans that looked like a field mowed hay," Balvanz said. "I can't remember a year (the region) has had so many acres impacted."

A little more than two weeks ago, about 400,000 acres in six Northeast Iowa counties sustained significant hail damage. Tens of thousands of acres in Black Hawk and Fayette Counties were hit by ice pellets in early July and a mid-June hail storm impacted crops near Lawler and the surrounding areas.

Despite the recent run of storms, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Des Moines said it's been a pretty typical severe-weather season, if not a little calmer than usual.

For farmers, reality and perception -- especially for those dealing with hail damage -- are two different things. Steve Boevers of rural Readlyn had a couple hundred acres hit near Frederika.

"I swear we've had 10 times the hail and wind damage this year," Boevers said. "You used to drive an hour away to see it (hail), now you can go 10 to 15 minutes in any direction."

JoAnn Carter, executive director of the Hardin County Farm Service Agency office, which is overseeing crop damage surveys, advised farmers to contact them if they sustained damage or had concerns about payments. That number is (641) 648-2533.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0150-37136845

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