23-05-2025
Is all this rain helpful or hurtful for farmers?
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — Rain during the month of May has dragged on for many folks, but for Lancaster County farmers that rain is needed.
'You could see dust coming up from the back of the planter so we were actually getting concerned that it was too dry,' Jeff Frey, a farmer at Future View Farm in Willow Street, said. 'This rain is actually welcomed.'
The Frey's were able to get most of their spring crops in the ground before the rain.
'I'd say we're about 80% done with the corn. We have all the full season beans planted,' Frey said.
Typically, Future View Farm has their corn planted by May 10. That didn't happen this year. Farmers have to wait to plant until the ground is dry.
'Our equipment today is heavy, big tractors and planters.,' Leon Ressler, an agronomy educator with Penn State Extension, said. 'So when you're running over a wet ground, it causes soil compaction which can lead to yield problems.'
'The negative part is that we don't have all the corn planted and once we get past the middle of the month there is a little bit of a yield drag or can be,' Frey said.
A planter has a steel disc on it that opens a slot and the seed is inserted. The seed can get damaged in rainy conditions.
'Opening that seed slot can cause sidewall compaction where the side of the seed slot is actually compacted and hard,' Ressler said. 'It prevents the roots of the corn plant, for example, of growing out sideways where it normally would.'
Frey believes all will be good as long as the rain doesn't continue much longer.
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'The only issue with this rain would be if it puddles or if it continues to rain all next week,' Frey said.
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