Smiles have disappeared from the faces of researchers at North Dakota State University and the USDA ARS following the late June rains that washed out and drowned trial plots.
An estimated eight inches fell in the heavy downpour over four to six hours in Fargo, ND, and the surrounding area. Because soil in the area is heavy clay, the water has no where to go and ponds, creating lakes.
At least one researcher said he lost 33 percent of his 70 total experiments after evaluations could be made two-to-three weeks later. This researcher said he had other trial work at Bismarck that appeared all right.
"We hope to salvage something from all this," he stated.
Many basements were flooded with the sudden deluge and sump pumps installed after the floods of 1997 were useless when the power went out.