I suppose I should have known we were off to just too good of a start this year. 3 rainstorms in 7 days totaling over 5.5" didn't do us any favors. The last 3" fell on already saturated soils and just couldn't get away fast enough.
Most people without a farm background around here don't know it, but most of the fields in this geography are underlaid with miles and miles of drainage tile to help with sub-surface drainage. Most of these tiles are installed between 24-72" deep and are between 4"-12" in diameter. Typically they connect to one another and empty into an outlet such as a stream or drainage ditch. Of course they flow by gravity and can only handle so much water in a given amount of time. Too much, too fast this time. Many of these tile are nearly 100 years old, made of clay and were installed by hand. Often, there are no good records to show their precise location. Typically we discover them when they quit working right. Modern tile we install today are usually plastic and mapped using GPS so we know exactly where they are.
The big question now is what kind of mortality rate will we see. Small corn (and soybean) plants like these can survive submerged under water for roughly 48-72 hrs. After that, most don't make it. As I write this, we have passed the 72 hr. mark and while much of the ponding is gone there is still plenty of standing water left in some areas. The next question will be whether to try to replant these areas. It's a bit of a crapshoot. First they have to dry out enough to support the equipment (and there is more rain in the forecast tonight). Then they have to be replanted early enough so that the plants won't be too far behind the rest of the field to reach maturity. The whole replant scenario will cost over $100/acre to undertake as well. And finally, you hate to go through all the work and expense only to have the replanted corn drown out again in a few weeks. And even if it does make it, yields will likely be greatly reduced in those areas. Fortunately we are facing this decision on less than 5% of our total acreage.
Any opinions?
If there was any silver lining in the after-math of the rainstorms it was this. Sometimes mother nature has a way of bringing a tear to your eye. And other times, she brings nothing but a smile. . .
