(Lakefield, Mn.)– Farmers in those areas hit hard by large hail this past Saturday are continuing to assess their losses. Jim Nesseth of Extended Ag Services of Lakefield tells KUOO news some of the largest hail fell in portions of Murray and Jackson counties, with hail stones the size of tennis balls in some cases, especially southwest of Lakefield…
“Well we had perhaps what started out probably, we think probably three to five miles width and it came from the northwest and actually from up in that Fulda area and Graham Lakes area and then really just headed down towards the Iowa line and I heard some reports they had some hail around Milford, so it was a big area and a lot of acres. What we saw the most is that, you know, there was just a lot of fields that were just total losses so it just really, really was severe in some cases. It couldn’t have came at a worse time because it was just right during pollination for corn and that’s just critical that you know, that’s when you look at the hail charts and that’s when you have the most damage when it occurs during that period. And the soybeans, too. A lot of soybeans got knocked down and there’s just really not anything left but stems in some cases.”
Nesseth outlines some of the options available to producers in the areas hardest hit…
“Depending on what herbicide they had, you know, they’ll probably put some cover crop in; others will probably just keep the field black from any weeds to grow, but every situation is just a little bit different. Overall, you know, hail is not good and you know one of the things, Steve, with hail is that, you know, the data says that 90 percent of all losses are 30 percent or less and so a lot of times if you just have some hail coverage on top of your crops you’re in good shape, but in this case we’ve got a number of different customers and clients that probably have a total loss in some of their fields so it makes it difficult. It’s disappointing when the crop looks as good as it does.”
Nesseth says he’s also heard reports from areas where the largest hail fell of dents in metal buildings and windows that were knocked out of homes.
