In contrast to the gray skies over East Lansing, the corn fields at University Farms have turned bright yellow.
If the crops were healthy, they would be dark green by now.
East Lansing received nearly 3 1/2 more inches of rain than average last month, damaging hundreds of acres of crops used for research and animal feed.
“It’s more water than we normally get, that’s for sure,” said Bary Darling, manager of University Farms. “There was so much water. You don’t really get that kind of rain but every 50 years or so.”
After the sixth-wettest May in Lansing history, university farmers and researchers have been scrambling to save their work.
But Mother Nature hasn’t helped out.
Gray skies and rain appeared almost every day last week, and are likely to continue through most of this week as well.
Aside from the problems caused by the initial rainfall, crop diseases come easier in soaked soil, fertilizer is buried deeper into the ground and several fields are still under water, preventing staff members from replanting.
“Everything is a problem now because we can’t get out there,” Darling said.
Corn that should be hitting knee-height is staying ankle-high. The lack of sunlight has changed the color to a yellow-green, while healthy corn would be dark green.
Also, hay that feeds animals used for study and experiments has not been harvested because of the leftover water - and the water that just keeps coming.
“Usually in the summer it’s just the opposite and we get too dry,” Darling said. “We’re waiting for a dry spell.”
But some professors were able to breathe a sigh of relief after nearly 5 inches of rain fell two weeks ago.
Of the 13 crop and soil research experiments that were in danger, only four need to be replanted. One experiment was abandoned.
“We did not see as much damage as we expected because the water went down so fast,” said Brian Graff, the crop and soil science farm manager. “We had a lot of other experiments that were affected, but we can continue to gather data.”
Graff said most of the crops that were ruined were destroyed by erosion. And some of the water drained away too quickly, taking experiments with it.
“Research plot work is very labor-intensive,” he said, hoping for the sunshine that will let he and others replant. “The research lab has to be much more uniform than general agriculture.”
However, it could be a few days before it begins to feel like summer - and even more days before the fields can be replanted.
“There’s been substantial rainfall,” said Bob Dukesherer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids. “We’re staying in this coolish pattern and showers are likely.”
But the sky can’t stay dark and the land can’t stay wet forever.
“I expect we will start to pull out of this,” said Dukesherer, predicting a mid-June warm-up. “It can’t continue like this all summer. The summer outlook is fairly normal.”
But among the wet fields of University Farms, Darling is wishing for brighter days and growth.
“We need some sunshine,” he said. “There’s a lot of things going on here that don’t help the farmer out.”
Jamie Gumbrecht can be reached at gumbrec1@msu.edu.
