LANSING, Mich. — Dry beans throughout central Michigan and the Thumb region have recovered better than expected after severe flooding in late June left some fields underwater for several days.

 

Paul Gross, a Michigan State University extension educator in Isabella County, said crops are “surprisingly in pretty good shape” after the June 23-24 flooding. “Most of the farmers that I talk to are really surprised at how well things look, considering the conditions of the crop after we had all that flooding.” he said.

“We certainly have areas in fields that are drowned out, but it’s encouraging how some of the crops that were flooded, but not drowned, have recovered.”

 

 Michigan Bean Commission Executive Director Joe Cramer said the industry is predicting about a 5 percent loss in the state’s dry bean crop, which is much less than anticipated just days after the flooding.

“We have a crop that went in in pretty good shape. Then it went through some really trying times with water in late June,” he noted. “When we looked at it at that time, we were pretty pessimistic.

Today, when we look at the crop, we cannot believe the crop we saw in late June and early July looks as good as it does.

“That doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods,” Cramer added. “It’s a very late crop. If we have an October 1 killing frost, then we’ll have another mess. There’s no way we’re going to have a bumper crop, and I struggle to believe we’re even going to have an average crop, but we have more potential today than I thought we did at the end of June.”

 

He said some fields in Bay County,which produces about 10 percent of the state’s dry bean crop, had 20 feet of water standing on them after the flooding.

“Some of those fields were replanted in early July. They don’t look too bad today, but it’s not normal to plant beans in July.

“The crop is better than we expected it could be. The plants are small, so we’re not sure what the yield potential is of a small plant,” Cramer said. “If we’re going to be successful this year, we need a late fall.” Adding to his optimism is the dedication of many growers.

“There are a few guys that are treating for white mold, which tells me the crop there looks decent and has potential, or they wouldn’t make that investment,” he said. “It would have been easy to just abandon the crop, but they’re doing what they need to do to keep the crop going.”

Gross said despite the crop stress earlier in the growing season, most farms in his area have received “timely rains,” which have helped sustain adequate soil moisture. “I’ve been to other areas within an hour of here that are severely  rought-stressed, but we are lucky that we have been receiving adequate moisture.

 

“Our crop stress really has been due to the excessive flooding we had earlier in the summer,” he added. “There are holes

in fields, but most of the crops have recovered remarkably well. We’re just going to be terribly average this fall for yields.”

Following the June flooding, the USDA estimated the financial loss on farmers and the economy at $21 million. Farmers in 14 Michigan counties and a tribal area are now eligible to apply for emergency farm loans after President Trump declared a major disaster designation on August 2 in response to the severe storms and flooding earlier this summer.

Bay, Gladwin, Isabella and Midland counties and the Saginaw-Chippewa Tribe Isabella Reservation were declared primary disaster areas due to flooding.

In addition, Arenac, Clare, Gratiot, Mecosta, Montcalm, Ogemaw, Osceola, Roscommon, Saginaw and Tuscola counties were declared contiguous disaster areas.

Under these designations, producers with operations in any primary or contiguous county are eligible to apply for low-interest emergency loans to help them recover from production and physical losses due to drought, flooding and  other natural disasters.

“The losses sustained by these communities have been severe due to the magnitude of the flash flooding,” Gov. Rick Snyder said. “This presidential declaration is an important step in our continuing efforts to provide assistance and help Michigan families and businesses recover from the effects of this disaster.”