Minnesota Farmers Relieved Over Weekend Rain, But Aren't Celebrating Yet
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Minnesota farms finally got the rain relief they've been waiting on for over a month and they're seeing some immediate effects.
"Just with the rain, you can see it's putting on new leaves since yesterday already," said David Pfarr, as he inspected his soybean plants on Sunday, the day after his Le Sueur farm got a little over a half-inch of rain.
"This was a really big rain for us, to make this look a little more normal and to put us into coast mode again," said Pfarr.
While Saturday's rain was helpful, Pfarr said his larger crops, like corn, can soak up half an inch of rain in as fast as three days.
"There was some stress on the corn…undoubtedly," said Pfarr, as he checked over his corn stalks, which were impacted by the long stretch of heat and drought.
"These [corn] leaves would roll up and that's a slow down to the plant's growth because it's protecting itself," said Pfarr.
He said if it wasn't for Saturday's rain, the damage could have been much worse than it is.
"We were running into a wall. In seven to ten days it was going to be a 50% reduction in yield, it was getting really serious…fast," said Pfarr.
He suggested that the Southern Minnesota soil was the main thing carrying his crops through the month-long drought.
"We're what you call a glacial till soil, so we actually hold quite a bit of water in this soil," said Pfarr.
On Sunday, the rain started rolling in again in the early afternoon, giving a second day of soaking for Pfarr's crops.
"I think we'll bust into more of a rainy pattern here," said Pfarr.
