Indiana farmers get tips on surviving drought

DEER CREEK, Ind. (AP) -- Drop by drop, animal nutrition consultant Bill Doig dripped a solution of sulfuric acid onto a longitudinal cross-section of a corn stalk. The acid-covered areas immediately turned midnight blue -- a sign, Doig said, that corn stalks from the same field could kill cattle that eat too much of it.

Doig and several other specialists in various agricultural fields spoke to about 85 crop and livestock farmers from Cass and Carroll counties Thursday morning during a three-hour workshop on drought-coping strategies held at the Deer Creek Community Center on Ind. 29.

The acid test he demonstrated was a quick way to determine whether extraordinary amounts of nitrates exist in a corn stalk, but it couldn't tell exactly how much was in it. Corn stalks fed to cattle can cause nitrate toxicity -- a deadly condition that inhibits oxygen transfer in the body -- if the concentration of nitrates in them is too high.

Soil nitrates result from fertilizers like anhydrous ammonia and are usually used up by the growing corn. But in a drought year such as this, corn doesn't have the chance to grow as much as normal and the nitrates stay trapped mostly in the lower third of the corn stalk.

If the acid turns a stalk midnight-blue, a farmer should send test samples to a lab to determine how severe the nitrate concentration is, Doig said.

Nitrate concentration is a concern both for this year's corn farmers, who are considering backup plans if their corn yields fail, and for cattle farmers who normally grow corn to feed to their cattle and may have to supplement that feed.

Mark Justice, a Carroll County farmer with just over 800 acres of corn and soybeans, said he attended the meeting in part to investigate "plan B" options in case he loses the corn crop.

"I'm looking for a second option if it's not good enough to harvest, mainly the corn," he said. The bean crop has "a better chance" of surviving the summer, but he may end up selling what remains of the corn to dairy or beef farmers as feed.

This is the driest summer he's seen in almost a decade of farming, Justice said. He estimated he'll spend the next two years recovering from it.

Doig told farmers the effects of the current drought will be felt for two to three years.

"I don't see a true end in sight for quite some time," he said. "And when I say quite some time, I don't mean by the end of October."

Cass County Purdue Extension educator Tamara Ogle said area farmers were facing roughly 30 percent yields from their corn fields because of the extremely low rainfall that has come this spring and summer.

Although this is the third summer in a row that the area has suffered drought conditions, the two previous years had wet springtimes.

Even the summer of 1988, a bad drought year to which farmers have compared this year, was preceded by spring rains.

"This year we didn't have those spring rains so it's even more unusual," Ogle said. "We know there's an issue, so we're trying to help them make some of these difficult decisions."
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Information from: Pharos-Tribune, http://www.pharostribune.com