Waiting for rain: Dry July is starting to put stress on Coulee Region crops

0 Comments | La Crosse Tribune, Jul 16, 2002 | by Bloom, Betsy, | Erickson, Randy

Corn plants are starting to curl and lawns to crisp amid a dry July in the Coulee Region.

The weekly crop report issued by the Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service Monday only confirmed what most area farmers know all too well: The region needs rain, and soon.

"There's no doubt we've got pockets of crops that are really in distress," said Vance Haugen, UW Extension agricultural agent for Crawford County.

The La Crosse area has received just less than an inch of rain since July 1, about half the normal precipitation for the month, according to the National Weather Service office in La Crosse. Other areas have received less than that.

From Crawford County in the south to Jackson County in the north, a number of corn fields had plants with leaves -i*olled into spikes - an attempt to conserve moisture by limiting exposure to the sun, Haugen said.

To Jackson County ag agent Arden Hardie, the conditions are all too reminiscent of last summer, when scant rainfall in July and August made for a poor harvest in the fall.

"Some of that corn on light soils is probably going to be hurt," Hardie said Monday, "perhaps quite a lot."

Greg Jenniges, who farms about 600 acres of sandy soil near Burr Oak by the border of Jackson and La Crosse counties, also fears a repeat of 2001. "Last year was pretty much a disaster," he said.

His crops appeared "super" in June. But the area's last measurable rainfall came in late June, and his fields of corn and soybeans now "are looking pretty sad." The lighter soils are less likely to hold moisture in reserve, so the plants have little to draw on during dry spells.

"On sandier ground, it's always a bit of a struggle ... but the last two years have been almost as bad as it can get," Jenniges said.

The corn also is beginning to tassel, a critical stage of development for the plants and one that typically needs some moisture for optimum pollination.

If the region gets a decent rain later this week, the crops could rebound, experts said. "Corn, especially corn, is a tropical plant," Haugen noted. "It's designed for heat and can take a lot of stress."

But regular rain is needed through the end of summer to ensure the crops finish as well as they appeared to be starting only a month ago.

"We need to have it rain at least an inch each week," Hardie said, "to take this crop to maturity."

The dry weather can also tax city water supplies when residents begin to water their lawns to keep them from turning brown.

Water demand in the city of Onalaska on Sunday hit a high mark for the summer so far, with 5.6 million gallons being pumped, said Onalaska Public Works Director Ron Lund.

"We're fine so far. We're keeping up," Lund said. "We're kind of holding our own, but it does tax the system when you have those days when you're pumping that much water."

Last summer, the city's peak water day was 7 million gallons, which Lund figured would fill the spacious council chambers at City Hall 35 times.

The city has four wells that can pump about 8.6 million gallons per day and five reservoirs that hold a total of 4.2 million gallons. The combination of wells and reservoirs gives Onalaska plenty of capacity, Lund said.

"We feel we have a pretty good system," he said.

Holmen also has plenty of water-pumping capacity to handle demand in a dry summer, said Phil Scholze, the village's public works director. The village has been pumping between 1 million and 1.5 million gallons per day, but could pump about 4.3 million gallons per day using all three wells. The two wells in service can pump about 2.9 million gallons per day.

"If it stays hot and dry, we'll be pumping a lot of water," Scholze said. "Nothing we can't handle."

La Crosse Water Utility Director Mark Johnson said so far this summer, the city's water usage peaked, July 1 with 22 million gallons and has been in the 18 to 19 million gallon range the past few days.

The city's average daily water usage year-round is about 15 million gallons.