Farms.com Home  › News

All the rain in half the time

Lentils take 80 - 110 days to grow, and we talked to Marengo area farmer Richard Schmalzbauer exactly 60 days ago. It was his first day of seeding. 

"Right now I think the lentils might be under a little bit of pressure just with how wet it is. If it stays like this, the disease will start showing up."

He said that the Marengo area has had 4.5 inches of rain, but hasn't seen much flood damage yet. "The disease starts showing up when they close their canopy in, and it never dries up. But who knows it could get sunny again, and it sure beats how it started out."

It's too early to say how harvest will look. Schmalzbauer says the rain may have came too late for some guys. He also wanted to note that crops like canola are benefitting quite a bit right now from this wetter weather. 

Click here to see more...

Trending Video

Diesel Prices and Rural Votes; USMCA Renewal; Iowa Shrimp Farming

Video: Diesel Prices and Rural Votes; USMCA Renewal; Iowa Shrimp Farming

Rising diesel costs squeeze farmers ahead of the midterm elections. A think tank backs renewing USMCA, the trade agreement linking the United States, Mexico and Canada. An Iowa couple adds shrimp farming to its operation. Brad Matthews discusses potential grain market lows, Chinese soybean demand and pressure on cattle and hog prices.