Source: NBC 25 News
Growers in the Michigan Thumb are feeling the pain from Mother Nature. The dry conditions are putting some parts of Michigan just steps away from an official drought.
Area growers say there’s not much they can do about their crops if they don’t see rain soon.
“We’ve never ever had it this dry this early,” says Albert Depcinski, who produces sugarbeets, wheat, corn and navy beans at Depcinski Farms, LLC in Cass City, Mich. He says the lack of rain is hurting both their products and their pockets.
“Without rain, were about 30 to 40 bushels less on the wheat per acre,” he says. “At $5 a bushel, that’s a couple hundred dollars less in our pockets.”
And that’s not the only crop affected.
“The sugarbeets aren’t growing anymore. They’re just sitting still. The navy beans are three weeks behind.”
Depcinski says they’ve seen virtually no rain in the last two months. And he says the profit loss will have a trickle-down effect on the community.
“Our yields are going to be down so we’re not going to spend as much money in town,” he says. “The dealerships are going to sell less ... It affects us a lot”
He believes the local economy could even see some food prices going up in stores. But Depcinski says he’s still optimistic that the rain can save some of the crops.
“If it would start raining now, the sugarbeets would recover and do good, navy beans could do good,” says Depcinski. “Some of the corn is hurt too much.”
Farmers say they need a good 2 to 3inches of rain, but at this point anything will help.