The American Farm Bureau reported Thursday that the number of states hit hard by the drought has risen to 24 and that crop conditions in Illinois have worsened despite recent rains.
In its weekly survey of 39 state affiliates, the Park Ridge-based bureau indicated the spread of the drought by adding Idaho, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Georgia to the list of 20 states most seriously affected by drought.
It also reported that the drought has worsened in Illinois, the nation`s leading soybean producer and the second largest corn producer after Iowa. The federation said the Illinois corn crop appears to have been cut by 50 to 100 percent, depending on the area of the state.
The Illinois soybean crop was estimated to have been cut by 35 to 50 percent in two-thirds of the state. Pastures reportedly were burned out virtually all over the state, and the drought was said to be causing ”severe problems” for Illinois fruit and vegetable growers.
Based on a statewide survey of Illinois county farm bureaus, the worst drought areas were said to include roughly the southern third of the state and the eastern half from central Illinois north to the Wisconsin border. Pockets of intense dryness also were said to be in the northwestern corner of the state and south of the Quad Cities.
Ken Kesler, 63, owns a farm in east central Illinois, in Champaign County. He confirmed the grim news of the latest survey. ”One hundred percent of the corn crops will be gone. No amount of rain will help the corn. If we can get away from this real hot weather, we might get a respectable yield of soybeans.”
Leo Whetstone, who farms in Crossville, in southeastern Illinois, said his area had its first potent rain in two months in the last two days. It helped a little, but where stalks should be 7 to 8 feet tall by this time of year, Whetstone sees stalks 3 1/2 to 4 feet tall.
Whetstone, 59, said that ”if we get one-third” of the normal amount of corn crops, ”we`ll be real lucky.” Whetstone believes he and other established farmers in the area will be all right, but newer farmers may face ruin.
”Some of these young farmers have kids to put through school and are trying to buy new grounds (to plant) and are trying to buy new machinery. Well, they`re going to go under.”
Lee Eishhorst, who grows corn and soybeans at his farm about three miles north of Champaign, said he will lose 75 percent of his corn corp. ”For the soybeans, there may be a 40 percent loss over what was grown over the last three or four years.”
Among other states, the farm bureau survey reported that Minnesota has lost half or more of its wheat, soybean and corn crops. Similar losses for corn were estimated for Indiana, Missouri, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.
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States reporting corn crop losses of 25 to 50 percent included Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, Oklahoma and
Pennsylvania. Similar soybean losses were reported for Indiana, Michigan, Arkansas, Missouri, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
The Farm Bureau survey underscored criticism by grain traders at the Chicago Board of Trade that recently released estimates of drought damage to crops by the U.S. Department of Agriculture were too low. The USDA said earlier this week that the nation`s corn crop had been cut by 29 percent and the soybean crop by 13 percent.
The estimates were made by the World Crop Board, a USDA unit that based them on trend lines, historical statistics and weather patterns, rather than field inspections.
The Farm Bureau survey included a report from its North Dakota affiliate estimating the drought will cost that state`s economy $2.6 billion.
Indiana reported its corn crop cut by 65 percent. Missouri said its corn crop was cut by half, soybeans by 15 percent, fruit production by as much as 20 percent and hay and pastures by 70 percent.