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Farmer in Nebraska panhandle says crops damaged by hail, strong winds

A farmer in the Nebraska panhandle says pea-sized hail and strong winds damaged his corn crop last week.

Paul Pieper tells Brownfield…

“It defoliated some of the corn. I mean, if you’re out picking sweet corn, you don’t have to worry about leaves hitting you because there’s just a stock standing in the ear,” he says.

He says his dry beans were also impacted.

“It knocked off the blossoms and some pods and and hurt the architecture or the structure of the plant,” he says.

Pieper had to replant several acres of beans after a hailstorm earlier in the summer. He says the heat continues to be a factor.

“Plants shut down after 90 degrees, and we’ve had 100 degree days and and so they just kind of stall out and kind of wait for the weather to cool off and then they go back to doing plant things,” he says.

Much cooler temperatures are expected in the panhandle the rest of this week, with chances for showers and thunderstorms through the weekend.

Pieper raises dry beans and corn near Mitchell.

Photo credit: Photo by Chabella Guzman, UNL Panhandle Research, Extension and Education Center.