Despite the recent break in seemingly daily rainfall across Indiana, farmers in the state – including those raising livestock – continue to deal with its impact.

Dairy producers in Jasper County are “scrambling to buy silage,” said Bryan Overstreet, Purdue University extension director for the county. “With all the rain, they haven’t been able to put up hay. It is probably getting dry enough now, though, for them to get out in the fields.”

Some of the hay has been sitting in fields for a while. Farmers should have the hay tested for quality to be sure it meets nutritional needs for livestock, said Overstreet, also the county’s extension educator for agriculture and natural resources. Additives may be necessary to help balance rations, he added.

A quarter of the state’s corn crop was rated very poor or poor in the July 27 Indiana Crop Weather report from the Great Lakes region of NASS. For soybeans, 27 percent were rated very poor or poor, as was 21 percent of the winter wheat crop.

Five percent of corn was in the dough stage, down from 11 percent at the same time last year. The five-year average is 13 percent. Thirty-six percent of soybeans were setting pods, down from last year’s 48 percent, but up from the five-year average of 35 percent.

Ninety-one percent of winter wheat was harvested, down from last year’s 97 percent. The five-year average is 99 percent.

The excess rain has caused diseases in some berries and grapes, according to the July issue of Purdue’s Facts for Fancy Fruit. Anthracnose has been found on gooseberries and grapes. Some red and black raspberries are of poor quality. Grapes have also been found with black rot, and some peaches have brown rot.