PO Box 603, Wabash, IN 46992 (260) 563-8326
www.thepaperofwabash.com LOCAL POSTAL PATRON
10 charities to benefit from chili cook-off - Page 2 July 13, 2022
Proudly Serving Wabash County Since 1977
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID WABASH, IN PERMIT NO. 233 Vol. 45, No. 18
Sweet, sweet rain Experts: Crops could rebound from distress of June dry spell By Phil Smith psmith@thepaperofwabash.com
A
s if planned strategically by someone hoping to grill over the holidays, much-needed rainfall hit Wabash County not long after the annual Independence Day celebration wound to a close. For local farmers, the precipitation was welcomed in earnest, as crops planted in May began showing distress from a longer-than-normal spell of dry conditions. “The U.S. Drought Monitor currently places the southwest part of Wabash County in the ‘Moderate Drought Category,’ while the rest of the county has been declared ‘abnormally dry,’” said Kyle Brown, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service’s station in North Webster last week. The website localconditions.com reported that even with the rainfall in the first week of July, totals going back to June 13 have barely topped three quarters of an inch. Brown reported data provided by the city utility office of nearby Marion, which partners with NWS to report such weather information as rainfall. According to the report, 7.07 inches of rain fell from May 1 to the end of June. This accumulation was the lowest since the drought year of 2012. However, local farmers and crop experts say the rain that began late in the day July 4 would be enough to help distressed crops rebound nicely. “This year, just like every year, there are always curveballs to adjust to,” said Scott Haupert with Urbana-based Dale/Haupert Family Farms. “Crops went in a little later than we would like, but they went and came up really well. The crop was in pretty good shape when we ran out of water.” On June 14 in Wabash County, the temperature topped out at 98 degrees Fahrenheit and crops didn’t see much in the way of moisture until late in the July 4 holiday. “The crop, especially corn, was starting to suffer but the rain came very timely,” said Haupert. Ed Farris with Huntington County’s Purdue Extension Office, described corn as resilient and quoted from an agriculture newsletter, which
FREE
Crop experts assert that recent rainfall may very well help the local corn crop to rebound after being distressed by an abnormally long period of dry weather. Photo by Phil Smith said “Overall, corn is fairly tolerant to heat and drought conditions during early vegetative growth. However, if the heat and drought continue to persist, and severe plant stress is observed, plant photosynthetic capacity and yield can be lost. Where heat and drought stress can become a significant problem is during pollination and silking.” Mark Kepler of Fulton County’s Extension Office reinforced the idea of such crops’ reliance on water during the early stages of development.
Published Weekly, Read Daily
“During early corn growth is when the plant genetically puts on the number of rows of kernels and these droughts during this time can affect that number of rows of kernels,” Kepler said. “You can continually guess how much yield loss has happened, but you never know what may be made up for by better weather later on. It is during that better weather that the number of kernels per row is put on, so if you have good moisture during that tasseling and silking time, Continued on Pg. 5.
FREE