By Lori EhdeThe five-inch drenching two weeks ago came too late to feed most drought-damaged crops in Rock County. For that reason, Farm Service Agency Director Roger Carlson predicts a 10- to 15-percent decrease in corn and soybean yields this year."It’s pretty early to tell, but that’s kind of my own prediction right now, before seeing any actual yields," Carlson said Tuesday."I can tell you my assessment overall, is that that we’ll have a smaller crop this year than last year and bigger variation in yields, because some parts of the county got more rain than others."Some combines ventured into fields this week, but Carlson said, with a little sunshine and some light winds, everyone will soon be harvesting. "Next week will be full bore."While some area counties submitted applications for drought disaster assistance, they need to show 30 percent yield losses to apply, and Carlson said Rock County, in general, won’t see that kind of drought damage."If we find out that I’m way off base, we can still apply for disaster assistance," he said.The drought scenario in Rock County is that some areas saw more damage than others. "The northeast parts of the county and areas along the river with lighter soil were hurting," Carlson said. "Those fields were pretty dead by the time we got rain."Most of Rock County received more than six inches of rain over a two-day period Sept. 10 and 11, but by that time local crops had already reached maturity."There were some corn and soybeans still green at that time, and were able to feed off that rain, but I think it didn’t benefit most crops," Carlson said.Prior to Sept. 10, Carlson said the last good rain in Rock County was around July 4. "Both July and August were real dry months," Carlson said.Despite its late arrival, the rain will make a big difference for Rock County crops in the future."It’s going to definitely have long-term benefits for the subsoil, especially next spring," Carlson said. "It came down so nice. Most of it soaked into the ground and didn’t run off."
