News

Storms cause green snap and lodging of corn in several states

Severe storms with hail and high winds have recently damaged crops in several Midwestern states.

Dave Walton, who farms near Wilton in east-central Iowa, says one of his cornfields had 10 to 15 percent green snap. But he says lodged corn will be an even bigger issue.

“Green snap was probably the lesser of the two issues,” Walton says. “A lot of this corn got pushed over at the root, so there’s going to be some goose-necking and lodged corn come harvest time. That’s the lasting effect here.”

Walton says it was one of his best-looking fields of corn.

“This one is going to hurt for a while because last year we were low yields and then we’ve taken the top end off. So our longer-term averages are going to get affected by this,” he says. “There’s just no way around it. It’s the nature of the game. But I think we’re still looking at a good crop. It’s just not going to be the great crop that we had.”

Walton says he is insured against wind damage on that field, which “will help ease the blow a little bit”.