Hurricane-force winds swept through northern Missouri and Iowa and all the way east to Illinois and Indiana recently. The derecho brought wind gusts up to 100 mph in places, flattening cornfields. The storm system also brought crucial rains. While it might not be enough to cure the drought, the rains could help rescue some of the drought-ravaged crops.
According to Accuweather, a derecho is a storm that brings a punch of at least 58 mph winds over the span of at least 400 miles. The storm barreled across the Midwest, with some of hardest-hit states being Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. The storm then turned and went south, hitting Tennessee.
Ken Ferrie, owner of Crop-Tech Consulting, was in the middle of the storm. He spoke to AgWeb's Rhonda Brooks about potential damage, estimating the derecho crossed at least two-thirds of Illinois.
“It's pretty widespread,” says Ferrie who lives in Heyworth, Illinois, just south of Bloomington. The storm also brought more than an inch of much-needed rain, which may have saved many of the Illinois corn and soybean crops.” Ferrie says there is quite a bit of cleanup that will need to take place with down trees and other damage, and he’s still trying to assess the impact on the crops.
“I have not seen any corn snapped like the derecho in Iowa where crops were just snapped and flattened, but there's a lot of corn laying over,” says Ferrie.
USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says the storm was widespread, impacting an area from the Central Great Plains and northern Missouri, all the way to the Tennessee River Valley. "This most recent derecho was reminiscent of the massive derecho that struck the Midwest on August 10, 2020," Rippey says. "We're not expecting to see the large-scale impact that we saw compared to August 2020, partly because it's earlier in the growing season when crops are not as high and susceptible to damage. And also, just the fact that winds weren't quite as high and the areal extent wasn't as great.” According to Rippey, the May-planted corn will still have time to stand back up and recover.
Soybeans weren’t spared from damage either, but Ferrie says the drink of water will also be a boost for those fields. He reports there are even soybean fields laid over from the derecho winds.
Indiana also reported high winds, with gusts reaching 70 mph at Indianapolis International Airport. Indiana farm fields experienced derecho damage too.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
It is difficult to really assess the overall damage from this derecho storm, but suffice it to say, there will be some – we just won’t know the full extent until this fall. Farmers/ranchers work so hard to put a crop in the ground, but they are always at the mercy of Mother Nature. We trust the damage will be minimal, but to those impacted heavily it is a serious personal setback. We do find some hope in the assessments noted in this article. At the end of the day, we have faith that most farmers/ranchers touched by this storm will come out the other side in good shape. In the meantime, if you’re in an area impacted by this storm damage, you are encouraged to emphasize AgPack® in your advertising and marketing to your local farmers/ranchers. They will appreciate the fact that AgPack® can save them thousands through exclusive rebates and discounts from our AgPack® partners!
