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Plentiful precipitation cutting irrigation needs

A Michigan farmer says reduced irrigation expenses this year will help offset lower commodity prices some.

Jake Drozd tells Brownfield, “With all the rain this summer, obviously we haven’t ran the irrigation the way that we normally would.”

“We will have some cheaper irrigation costs this summer compared to most years and so that’ll help with the prices out right now.”

Drozd says his precipitation totals are at least 10 inches ahead for this time of year but the downpours have been heavier.

“By mid-Van Buren, southern Van Buren County, from May 1st to July 28^th, I think we got 30 inches of rain down there and so that affected our crop there by quite a bit,” he shares. “On an 800-acre farm we’ll have 30 acres of zero.”

Drozd says the season has also been windier than most and after three weeks with no rain the irrigators started running at the start of the month.

With the challenging marketing conditions, he says the plan is to store a lot of his crop after harvest.

Drozd was the corn yield winner for Michigan last season with more than 374 bushels per acre.

AUDIO: Jake Drozd