Holy Hail!

We had it lucky.

For me and Jeff, our first year farming our own leased land looked like it would be pretty good. Each passing day fed the optimism for the potential of a great crop. Jeff has made great farming decisions all season long. This coupled with some well-timed rains and the crops were really looking pretty good.

Our winter wheat is headed out and looking good.

Jeff demonstrating a pea blossom.  Each bloom will create a pod.

A field of bloomin' peas.

So far this season we had dodged the pop-up hailstorms and severe weather (even some tornados!) that had pummeled some of our neighboring communities.  Yesterday, that changed; A severe storm system moved its way through our area.  Many farms along its northeasterly trajectory were affected, not only by hail stones the size of shooter marbles or golf balls, but also by strong winds.  One neighbor of ours reported a gust of 85mph. Another neighbor had recorded 92mph.

(Photo from Rachel Kimmet Berg's facebook page)

Electric lines were knocked down, leaving many country homes without power well into the evening.  Some neighbors lost roofs on buildings and found cracked and broken windows.  Our house and property was spared- no damage.  Our farmland was hit with some hail damage: minor in most places.  Jeff thinks maybe around 25-30% at the very worst spots, from what he could tell. Unfortunately for our neighbors, some of the farmland adjacent to ours is much worse.

The torrential hail damaged many ripening wheat fields in the area.  Heads battened down and kernels shattered all around.  One friend of mine was pretty bummed when we were comparing damage reports.  She described her wheat as looking like it had "gone to sleep." The wheat was laying down in the field. She and her husband are another young couple, just starting out in farming. I find a lot of similarities between them and us, which underlined in my mind that it could have just as easily been me and Jeff whose wheat had gone for The Big Sleep. Another farmer south of us said he thinks he may have a hundred acres LEFT.  When farms acres are measured by the thousands as they are in these parts, to have only about one hundred acres spared is a pretty big deal.

Crop insurance with added hail policies offer some monetary protection and reimbursement against unpredictable damages crops can suffer. Hail and other weather-related disasters are unavoidable, despite a farmer's best effort at planning. It is a well-known truth that weather cannot be counted upon.  Weather can make or break any crop. It has no regard for hopes of farmers and their families. Perhaps it is the disappointment of not being able to cut a great crop at its fullest potential come harvest that bums us out the most. By now, we have all seen a glimpse of the promise of what the crop could amount to.

Looking on the bright side, we are not currently faced with raging wildfires that are burning up our neighboring states, and even in some places in Montana.  There is no Tropical Storm Debby, either. Our hail storm, small by relative standards, also came with rain.  Rain that may even be enough to offset damages done by the hail in some places.  For all that, we should be thankful.

After all, we really have it pretty lucky.