For Nappanee grain farmer Max Schmucker, this year was full of highs and lows.

“In May, I had the prettiest corn I’ve ever grown,” he said. “Now, I’ve got the worst in my life.”

Schmucker is just one farmer dealing with the drought, though some relief may arrive soon because of a declaration made Friday from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA declared 36 Indiana counties as “primary natural disaster areas” because of extreme drought. These counties include Elkhart, LaGrange, Noble and Kosciusko.

Farmers in these counties may receive help from the Indiana Farm Service Agency (FSA) for program assistance, according to the release. Farmers are now eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the FSA, provided certain requirements are met. Other programs are also available to provide assistance.

Schmucker, who has farmed for around 33 years, said his crops are feeling the heat from the extreme drought plaguing the local area and other large parts of the country.

“My corn is pretty well devastated,” he said. “Two to three inches of rain would help salvage some of it, and even half an inch would help, but a bunch of it is past the point of no return.”

Schmucker doesn’t have irrigation for his crops, which is a “gamble,” he said.

“But it’s the heat that’s doing more damage than the dry weather,” he said. “Corn can’t really stand temperatures above the 80s, and with these 90- and 100-degree temperatures, it’s not growing. Soybeans can handle pretty much any weather, though they’re going to start podding soon, so they’ll need water, too.”

It’s not just farmers that will be feeling the heat, though, according to Pine Manor Feed Mill Manager Todd Prough. Consumers will feel the pinch in their wallets when they go to purchase milk, meat and produce.

“The price of corn and soybeans are going through the roof,” Prough said. “People are holding onto their grain because they don’t know what they’ll have in the fall. This is hitting the farmer, but it will also hit people in the stores.”

Prough, who has been with Pine Manor for 29 years, buys feed for the chickens and ducks at Miller Poultry, and he said it’s costing more and more to feed them.

“We get our grain from mostly local farmers,” he said. “Most of them do have irrigation, and, for the ones who don’t, they probably won’t have crops this year.”

Prough cautioned those not living on farms to keep in mind what farmers must endure to grow crops.

“The drought will effect everyone,” he said, “not just farmers. Everyone buys things from farmers.”

Schmucker also said farmers need priority over non-grain growing residents, if water were ever limited.

“You hear a lot of griping from people who don’t live on farms about irrigation lowering the water table, but they don’t seem to understand that farmers need the water to grow food,” he said. “I don’t think golf courses or lawns should be allowed to water (when weather is like this).”

More information on the damage and what the USDA can offer to farmers is available at www.usda.gov/disaster.

Wells go dry

In other drought-related news, Jennifer Tobey, emergency management director for Elkhart County, said Friday her office has received two new calls over the last two days indicating wells had run dry in the northern Nappanee area.

The calls bring the total number of well issues reported in the area to five since Tobey first informed County Commissioners on Monday that three homes located along the C.R. 7 corridor in Nappanee had their wells run dry over the previous weekend.

“We got a couple more calls, but one of them appears to have been just a rejuvenation,” Tobey said. “Basically they lost water for a little bit, but when they left it alone for a while they got it back. And then we have one more that we’ve brought water to and we’re keeping an eye on them.”

Tobey on Monday said that the Red Cross has been informed of the incidents and is on standby in the event that they are needed, though she added that it appears most of the residents affected by the dry wells are dealing with the situations on their own.

“A lot of them have kind of fixed their own problem,” Tobey said. “I’ve only got two that we’ve still got that are utilizing water that we’ve given them.”



Goshen News staff writer John Kline contributed to this report.