(July 8, 2008)--Aa once promising year is looking quiet bleak for area farmers.
In Bell County losses to the lack of rain are in expected to be in the millions and with the flood devastation in the Midwest, corn production is taking a big hit across the country.
"It's like running a marathon but not finishing the last 10 miles and you’re out of the race and that's where we're at right now," said Texas AgriLife Extension Agent Dirk Aaron.
This year’s corn will still be bound for market in a few weeks, but not near the rate farmers were hoping for in a time of high fuel and fertilizer prices.
"There's going to be a lot of corn harvested but not near the amount of bushels that actually were needed, basically by the producers to make ends meet," farmer and rancher Robert Fleming said.
Rainfall now could actually hurt the current crop, but it's still on the wish list as pastures and cattle ranchers remain high and dry.
In a good year, most of the corn on this field would be some seven feet tall, but the lack of rain has stunted plants, even making the ears half the size.
With hardly a drop of any sort of measurable rainfall in the past two months, farmers like Robert Fleming expect a 40 percent loss across the board.
"It's roughly about $2 million dollars that won't come into the hands of the farmers and ranchers in Bell County,” he said.
And that’s a significant blow to the local economy.
Even with the estimated $4 billion dollars in loses in the Midwest; some 28 million acres of corn will still be harvested around the country.
Leading experts to say the overall impact on consumers should be minimal if any.
"On a national basis and the big picture of things, there's not going to be enough reduction in acres to have a significant play right now," Aaron said.
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