Farming and the Weather

With all the adverse weather in my area lately I decided to write a quick post about the risks in farming, mainly the risks associated with Mother Nature.  Every year farmers take a gamble with mother nature, they all hope for plenty of rain at all the right times and to avoid the severe weather; but Mother Nature doesn't always work that way.  Farmers are dependent on the weather everyday, one can get an abundant amount of moisture all year long, but that one final severe storm that brings baseball size hail just a week before harvest can be devastating. Some farmers are fortunate to have irrigation and can help control moisture to their crop, but it never seems to be the same as rain water. Plus with more restrictions in irrigation areas and higher energy cost irrigation can become quite an expense and a lot of work.

The following are just a few photos of how bountiful mother nature can be to crops, and how devastating it can be as well.

A gorgeous gravity irrigated corn field.

And the ugly, a corn field that was hit with golf ball size hail in mid-July.

 

Another angle of the field. The ears on the cornstalks were only partially developed once the corn hit and the ears will have damage. The corn will still be able to harvested, but the kernels will be damaged and not of very good quality.

I hope this post helps to relate the constant worry, stress, and gamble that a farmer may experience everyday while they tend to their growing crop.