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Iowa farmer deals with double whammy: drought and derecho

Harvest time is usually a happy time for farmers as they reap the rewards of their months of hard work.

But for central Iowa farmer Schyler Bardole, this year feels quite different.

“You know, I grew up all my life being so excited for harvest. This year we haven’t hardly started, and it can be over any time,” Bardole says.

The Bardoles were hit with a double whammy this year: extreme drought and derecho.  They’re in the process of destroying 600 acres of corn that were deemed a total loss because of the wind event.

“Our operation is a no-till, strip-till operation, so we have not been disking it under,” Bardole says. “We’ve actually been using a crimper to try to help destroy the stalks a little bit more, so that way they decompose. And as you go across the field, you just leave a big cloud of dust for mold.”

Bardole says they will be harvesting their remaining 700 acres of corn, but he expects it to be a very slow process. 

“It’s not going to be very fun. I don’t think we have a field where you can row. That’s kind of the mangled mess that we’re facing, and our neighbors are facing, right now.”