WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — While assessing potential crop damage from recent torrential rains and flooding in parts of the Midwest will take time, farmers should be prepared for possible losses, Purdue University experts say.

Some northern Indiana counties have received twice their normal rainfall for the entire month in just the past few days. In Fort Wayne, the National Weather Service recorded 6.65 inches of rain for the first two weeks of June. The average rainfall in the city for the entire month is 4.2 inches.

Extension corn specialist Bob Nielsen said young corn can likely survive up to about four days in standing water if temperatures are relatively cool. The risk increases the longer the plant is under water. "Plants that are only partially submerged may continue to photosynthesize, albeit at limited rates," he said.

Nielsen has published an article describing all the factors that influence a corn plant’s ability to survive in a flooded or ponded field.

The article, "Effects of Flooding or Ponding on Corn Prior to Tasseling," is available in the latest issue of Purdue’s Pest and Crop online newsletter at http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/pestcrop/2015/Issue11

Additional resources for flood-damaged field crops are available on Nielsen’s blog, the Chat ‘n Chew Café, at www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/cafe

While it is too late in the season to replant damaged corn crops, soybean growers could still decide to start over without losing any federal crop insurance coverage, but only if they act quickly, said Michael Langemeier, an agricultural economist specializing in crop systems. The final date for planting soybeans with full insurance coverage was June 20. After that there is a 25-day late planting period where coverage drops 1 percent per day.