"They’re just rows of mud," Penny Ramsey said when asked to describe the condition of the row crops on the farm she and her husband, John Jr., operate in Fulton County.

Their plight is not unusual. Jerry Eaton said the corn on his farm is spotty. That planted early and in sandy soil is thriving; the rest of it is struggling. "There’s a lot of yellow out there," he explained.

Tom Weaver said the corn he planted by May 1 is thriving. "The roots are going down and getting oxygen," he said. "But you can’t always count on early planting being the best; sometimes it yields the poorest crop. So far this year, however, there’s been a slow progression.

"The first 200 acres looks good. The rest of the fields (1,050 acres) don’t look as good." He blames that on the heavy rains Indiana has experienced in June and July – 12.2 inches from June 1-7, 2.3 inches until July 10 with intermittent showers between downpours.

"What we planted by May 9 is decent, but what was planted by May 13 didn’t get enough root separation," Weaver said. Still trying to apply nitrogen to his fields, he is concerned about that delay, as well as the dangers of disease and wind damage.

From Rochester east through Athens and Akron, much of the corn is tasseled; the rest ranges from lower than knee-high up to shoulder-high. Driving from Akron east to the state line can only be compared with driving through one lake after another. As the water recedes, it reveals weak, yellow corn.

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) reported 50 percent of corn and soybeans in good to excellent condition while remaining optimistic that conditions may improve with favorable weather.

Penny Ramsey clarified that by saying, "What we need now is some warm weather. All the rain plus cool temperatures is hurting all of us."