Turbulent, stormy weather can wreak havoc on Kentucky farmers and their crops. At the end of June, several Kentucky communities experienced significant weather-makers. Just over a week ago, hail impacted corn fields in central Kentucky including Madison County. Chad Lee is an extension professor in grains agronomy. Lee said hail storms often rip off the leaves of corn and the crop can recover.
“This hail actually bruised some of the stems and stalks of the corn plants and so it forces us to have to cut open corn stalks and figure out how severe the damage is to help us know whether or not those plants are gonna survive,” said Lee.
Lee said soybean crops suffered too, but generally, not to the degree of central Kentucky corn. The UK extension professor admitted the next three weeks are critical for corn, about the next four to five weeks for soybeans.
Sufficient rainfall is important to farmers in the Commonwealth. But rains have been inconsistent in some sections of Kentucky this growing season. Chad Lee said in the corn arena it hasn’t felt like a great year.
Source: weku.org
Photo Credit: freepik-upklyak
Categories: Kentucky, Weather