Star-Journbal Editor
There is no argument that the tender, green wheat crop suffered deadly exposure during the nights of subfreezing temperatures this past week in Marion County.
But as of midweek, farmers, agronomists, and extension agents were still unable to determine how much of the 2007 wheat crop has been lost, and how many — if any — of the frozen-stiff stalks might still grow, sprout heads, and be ready for the June harvest.
Kevin Suderman, an agronomist at Cooperative Grain and Supply in Hillsboro, also has 200 acres of wheat planted south of town. When he checked on his wheat Sunday, most of it was laid over on the ground.
As widespread as the freeze was, Suderman said it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to call it a disaster, or a crisis, at the very least.
"The federal government will have to make that decision," Suderman said. "It's disastrous from the point that we were looking at a good price, and we had some good looking wheat, and were looking at a lot of bushels. The key issue is whether or not we killed the heads in the stock, if that happened we have some significant yield loss."
While more answers will come by the end of the week, veteran wheat growers such as Lyle Suderman, (Kevin's uncle) who has farmed for more than 30 years southeast of Hillsboro, say they never saw such a hard freeze at such a bad time in the growing cycle.
"I've seen all sorts of stuff, but I've never seen a crop hit this viciously at this time of year," said Suderman the Monday after Easter. "We're going to have to wait a few days to find out what happened, but I think we've been hurt pretty badly."
Normally a hard freeze in early April isn't a problem for wheat, but according to Marion County extension agent, Ricky Roberts, because March was the second-warmest on record and there was plenty of rain, this year's crop was about two weeks ahead of normal, and was frostbitten at a particularly tender stage of growth.
"At this point in time," Roberts said, "what I'm seeing is a lot of stem damage, and that, to me, is the worst kind. You don't know if the plant can recover from that. It's like frostbite in a human. You have to wait and see if the stem damage has damaged tissue so badly that the plant can't pull the nutrients up. If so, then that plant dies a slow death."
That doesn't mean Roberts is ready to pronounce Last Rites on this year's crop, because it's too early to tell. After temperatures warm up, damage will be apparent within a week to 10 days. If temperatures stay cool for another week or two, it will take longer to notice any freeze injury, he said.
While farmers wait to find out if there is damage, orchard owners such as Duwane and Jane Miller of Hillsboro could already see the damage Monday. Officially retired, they keep busy every day tending the Garden of Eat'n Orchard at 105 N. Ash Street. At last count, there were 337 apple trees, 145 peach trees, and scores of pear, and plum trees in the orchard, which sits on four acres and requires a golf cart to get around in.
All of their trees were ablaze with blossoms, until the temperature fell. On Monday, most of the blossoms were on the ground, or shriveled on their limbs.
"We've had freeze damage, but not as bad as this year," Miller said.
Each June the Millers put a sign in the yard, open a make-shift fruit stand in their garage, and quickly sell out of the peachiest peaches in town. They'll know within a few weeks if they'll be putting the sign in the yard or not this summer. But the Millers don't consider themselves serious growers, nor do they depend on their hobby crop for their livelihood. Compared to what the farmers are facing, Jane says their four-acre crop failure isn't worth writing about.
Out in the alfalfa fields, the plants are bowed over, like shepherds' crooks.
"The shepherd's crook is at the growing point at the very top of the plant," Roberts said, "and I believe that's probably toast. On Thursday or Friday if the top of plant is still bent over, then we probably need to get the top of the growth off of there. With alfalfa we have more cuttings to come. So the second cutting will become our first cutting.
"Alfalfa was a great cash crop last year, extremely valuable," he added. "It's as good of a cash crop as we've had."
Randy Svitak of Svitak Hay Farm, Lincolnville, is taking a wait and see attitude regarding damage to his approximately 800 acres of alfalfa.
"It's never been this bad," he said.
He's hoping that although the present growth is gone, the plants will be OK and will regrow.
"We're back to square one," he said.
To the untrained eye, wheat stalks in many Marion County fields earlier this week appeared packed down, clumpy, and discolored to a darker shade of green. Roberts says it's still unclear if the laid-down stocks have been killed or damaged. While a damaged wheat stalk can produce a secondary tiller and still produce seeds, they are more sensitive to weather conditions, Roberts said.
"It it's hot, dry, and windy, it can toast those secondary tillers and we'll have a lousy wheat crop," he said. "But if the conditions stay good through the spring and summer, and the moisture stays good, and it doesn't get too hot, then we can still cut wheat."
Roberts remembers what the so-called experts said after the freeze of 1997.
He doesn't plan to make the same mistake.
"I was in Dodge City at the time, and this was a later freeze than it is now, further along," he said. "The crop consultants were telling everybody that the wheat crop was done, there's no way we're cutting wheat. Well, we had a pretty decent wheat crop that year. We did fine and we made wheat.
"By textbook rules, it got cold enough here last week to hurt the wheat," he added. "But thankfully the textbooks can be wrong, and so can the experts. That's why everybody is afraid to jump out and make predictions at this point."
Like the wrecked family vehicle, ultimately it will be up to the crop insurance adjusters to determine the amount of damage that has been done.
The question adjusters will be able to answer, Roberts said, is whether the surviving crop should be allowed to grow until harvest, or, if such so much of the crop has been killed that it would be better to declare it a total loss, so farmers can plow it under and replant a secondary crop, such as milo, corn, or soybeans, and still have a harvest.
But, just like you and your auto insurance adjuster don't always agree, farmers don't always see eye to eye with their crop insurance adjusters.
"I can assure you there's going to be some really difficult decisions that will have to be made in the future," Roberts said. "But I'm saying, let's let this thing play out a little bit and see what happens."
With so much yet unknown about his wheat crop, Lyle Suderman has put it all in the Lord of the Harvest's hands.
"It's Easter weekend, the tomb is empty," Suderman said. "There's no sense worrying yourself sick about it."
