Anybody gettin any rain?

[JC]

We're in the middle of cotton, rice and soybean country. It is dry,
dry, dry.

South Texas

[Xmilker]

Wheat disaster
By Mary Drier (Contact / Staff Bio)
August 15, 2009 - 11:51 a.m. EST

THUMB AREA � Recent rains have added insult to injury for some area farmers.

Because of rains in July, the amber waves of wheat crops in the Thumb were
severally damaged and some crops were �unharvestable� and a total loss.

�About everyone around here lost their wheat crop,� said Helen Petiprin of
Unionville. �It doesn�t matter... white or red wheat. It all has damage.�

Initially, the crop looked like it would be a good harvest because the
damage was on the inside. Wheat kernels are usually closed but, because of
the heavy rains when the crop was mature, the kernels sprouted - germinated.

It comes down to too much rain at the wrong time, explained Jim Howe, Vice
President of operations for Star of the West Elevator.

�At 13.5 percent moisture, wheat is considered dry. At 28 percent moisture,
it is considered mature,� said Howe. �The rain came when the wheat was
mature at 28 percent, but yet considered too moist to harvest.�

Instead of being made into flour or cereal, the sprouted wheat was sold as
livestock feed at a minimal price, or abandoned.

When elevators rejected wheat loads, farmers had to take their crop back
home and dump it back into the field.

Michigan State University Extension estimates about 70 - 80 percent of
Michigan�s wheat is planted in the greater Thumb area. Both white and red
wheat crops had sprouting problems.

�Some farmers who were able to harvest their crop early got it in, but the
majority didn�t,� said Howe. �Those are the ones who lost most of it.�

This is the second year in a row this has happened, but this year the
sprouting is much worse and much more widespread.

�Many Thumb-area farmers have lost thousands of dollars this year because
the rain damaged their wheat and their ability to sell it at a good price,�
said Representative Terry Brown (D - Pigeon) in a press release. Brown
member of the House Agriculture Committee.
http://www.tuscolatoday.com/news/2009/aug/15/wheat-disaster/

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