‘We need some warmth, we need some sunshine;’ Cool, rainy spring impacting crop growth for farmers

It has been a cool and rain-filled spring so far here in Ohio.

>>PHOTOS: Cool, rainy spring impacting crop growth for farmers

News Center 7′s Mike Campbell spoke with one local farmer about how that impacts what they can do and how it might impact people when it comes to food prices.

The last six weekends of rain and cool weather have put a problem in people’s activities but it has also been a challenge for farmers with trying to plant crops with mudholes in their fields.

“A lot of farmers are frustrated because we’ve been out for a while now, we need some warmth, we need some sunshine,” said Dave Linkhart.

He farms hundreds of acres in Greene County but does not have his corn or soybeans planted and needs a little less mud and water in the fields.

“It’s very wet,” Linkhart told Campbell. “You’d like to have it be just a bit more dry.”

He said most farmers in our area would like to have crops in the ground by around May 10. If have does not happen, it could lower the yield, how much they can harvest.

“We’re getting close to that,” said Linkhart. “Yeah, it will impact if it’s planted later, for sure.”

Campbell says he is hoping for a couple of more warm and dry days. Linkhart getting the seed containers and other equipment on his planters ready so he can go to work when the time and soil conditions are right.

Some farmers that planted earlier are now worried recent cold temperatures ruined that effort.

“There’s already guys looking, ‘Wow, will I have to replace what I planted early because of this cold?’” Linkhart told Campbell.

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Aerial footage from Sky 7 shows Linkhart’s fields look okay but he says the weather conditions are different every planting season.

Farmers have to be flexible and adjust to whatever comes their way. Linkhart says he is not sure his farm has an impact on prices for end-use customers in stores.

Even if lots of Midwest farmers have difficulty with their corn crops, he says there are many other variables that impact prices.

“What that does to consumers in the U.S.,” explained Linkhart. “A lot of corn is used for ethanol now too, so it depends on the price of oil, so many factors.

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Campbell reports it’s too early to tell how just soon the crops will be planted in fields like Linkhart’s.

This means it is too early to tell if crop yields will down or if there will be any impact on the prices you and I see at the supermarket.

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