Storm’s effect on corn crop in state looks devastating

Last Monday's Derecho wreaked havoc on Iowa's crops. In a news conference last week Gov. Reynolds announced early estimates indicated more than 10 million acres were destroyed.

Virgil Schmidt, farm specialist for Iowa State Extension, said there are 23 million acres of row crops in Iowa, with 7.7 million of those acres in the area where the storm had its biggest impact.

'Basically we're looking at along Highway 30 and 20 miles either side of that,” he said of where the core of the damage was. 'Obviously it wasn't confined to that area but that was the area that most consistently took the brunt of it.”

Schmidt said he spent Wednesday surveying fields. The conditions varied from field to field with some having crops completely flat, some where the corn was snapped above the ear and others standing tall but stripped of leaves from the wind.

Benton, Lunn, Cedar and Jones counties took the brunt of it, he said.

For the most part, the soybeans were resilient, he said. They looked ruffled but survived the high winds.

'The soybeans are really not an issue,” he said. 'It's basically corn and infrastructure.”

Schmidt said there is no yield loss estimate at this point because farmers are still trying to assess the damage. However, if 80 percent of the crops have leaf loss, there will be a 29 percent yield loss.

Stalks that are wind-stripped or leaning will have limited ability to conduct photosynthesis, meaning the kernels will not be as big and heavy as normal. The result will vary depending on upcoming weather and how much of the stalk was snapped, he said.

'Some of these fields are going to take a real significant hit, there's no doubt about it,” he said.

Leaning crops will have little to no yield loss, he said, but those completely flat will make it hard for harvest. In the early season, the corn will goose neck, or right itself, if knocked over. Now, the corn is focusing on producing kernels and cannot right itself, he said.

'This is going to mean there are a lot of fields that are going to have to be harvested in one direction,” he said.

The harvest season is going to be 'slow and frustrating,” he said.

Farmers will need to take their time, take frequent breaks and get an earlier start if they want to finish in a somewhat timely manner.

'People are going to want to get started and get to it, but they need to make sure they take their time and be safe,” he said.