Search Site   
News Stories at a Glance
Deere 4440 cab tractor racked up $18,000 at farm retirement auction
Indiana legislature passes bills for ag land purchases, broadband grants
Make spring planting safety plans early to avoid injuries
Michigan soybean grower visits Dubai to showcase U.S. products
Scientists are interested in eclipse effects on crops and livestock
U.S. retail meat demand for pork and beef both decreased in 2023
Iowa one of the few states to see farms increase in 2022 Ag Census
Trade, E15, GREET, tax credits the talk at Commodity Classic
Ohioan travels to Malta as part of US Grains Council trade mission
FFA members learn about Australian culture, agriculture during trip
Timing of Dicamba ruling may cause issues for 2024 planting
   
Archive
Search Archive  
   
Michigan rains wipe out high numbers of veggies

By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent

HUDSONVILLE, Mich. — Roger Victory, owner of Victory Farms in central Ottawa County, expects to spend $20,000-$30,000 to replant portions of his vegetable crops this summer.
Much of his farm was devastated by heavy rains from a storm system that dumped 4-12 inches of water on four western Michigan counties last weekend.
“Our county was the bullseye for heavy rains,” said Victory, who farms land in the Hudsonville and Allendale areas. “We had one farm that the electric was out and it’s all drained with a large lift pump. It was 40 acres of waist-deep water.” He said the leek crop planted there likely is salvageable. But, he didn’t get so lucky with much of his 400 acres of winter squash.
“Some of that was not underwater, but we’re looking at replanting it,” he said. “The ground is so saturated, and that’s what’s most detrimental to the squash.”
Victory is still assessing total damage. “Weed control was my biggest concern last Friday (June 6),” he said.
But that’s no longer much of an issue. Now he’s deciding how to best tackle the job of replanting, which can’t be done until the fields dry out somewhat.
“The replanting window is closing rapidly,” he said. “And there’s the loss of fertilizer. It’s hard to know exactly what you have. Nothing has been improved with time. It just keeps getting uglier and uglier.”
While Victory already expects to spend $20,000-$30,000 on more seed and fertilizer, he said there’s no estimate yet on how much yield will be lost on crops that survived. The weather “just took the best of the crops out. We won’t be able to perform the best crop production this year.”
Adam Kantrovich, Michigan State University Ottawa County extension director, said the rainfall has been exceptionally hard on a variety of vegetable and fruit crops throughout the area.
“We have hundreds of acres affected,” he said.
For celery, losses are estimated at 30 percent in Ottawa and Allegan counties and 50 percent in Kent County. “We have farms ranging from 10 to 100 percent loss,” Kantrovich said.
Further, he said this is prime time for Michigan growers to market their celery. “Our celery growers are losing out on their highest and best market opportunity for celery. The financial loss is going to be greater than the overall crop loss,” Kantrovich said, estimating that celery is worth $6,000-$7,000 per acre.
Other crop estimates include 30-40 percent loss in onions in the three counties, 80 percent for radishes, 50 percent for lettuce, 30 percent for red beets in Ottawa County and 40 percent for potatoes in Allegan County. Although many vegetable crops are rotated throughout the season, Kantrovich said income lost on current crops will add up fast.
“These farmers have lost one portion of their income that will not be regained,” he added.
As the second highest producer of blueberries in Michigan, Kantrovich said Ottawa County growers are optimistic their fruit will mature. With some blueberry fields under water, “growers are making adjustments to help release water from their fields.
“There have been carp swimming between the blueberry bushes in one area,” he said. “That gives you an idea of how much water is there. But, we’re not worried. The stage the plant is in, they’ll likely be okay.”
As for nursery stock, Kantrovich said damage is largely based on the maturity and species of the plants.
“We could see losses in the nursery industry in the millions of dollars,” he said. “It will be difficult to assess. Some of those crops are in the ground for years. We’ll have to wait a little longer to see what all the damage is.”

6/18/2008