Posted: Friday, June 20 at 4:00

More estimates on the amount of crop damage in our area due to rising water are released.

Said UW Extension's Soils and Crops agent Jim Stute, "This is unprecedented. We have not seen flooding like this in Rock County for a long time. We have had wet springs but not a period when fields are constantly being flooded."

According to preliminary estimates from the UW Extension 7500 acres of crops in Rock County have been destroyed this spring by flood waters. That means most farmers have lost between two and five percent of their yields.

"It is worth millions of dollars," added Stute, "This is crops that have been flooded out or the prevented planting. We still have damage to the crops that are out there."

The extra damage is due to flood waters that washed away fertilizer and pesticides which can not be re-sprayed due to the mud. Plus weeds that pose a threat to crops cannot be extracted because the land is too wet to get a tractor through. The extent of the damage will not be known until the harvest. But on July 15th farmers will report their losses.

Bob Gunn and his family own this farm west of Janesville. He says the problems this year came long before the rains.

"The soil was cold when we planted so we had to wait a little bit longer than we normally do," stated Gunn, whose farm lost about 10 of their 400 acres of corn to the water.

"We've been lucky we have not been getting stuck or anything like that. Then when you can go you have to go like crazy," he added. "It could have been a lot worse. The water could have sat longer on the fields and killed a lot more crops."

Gunn said that he will replant the ten acres that he lost. There may not be enough time to harvest it before the first frost, but if that happens they will cut it and use it as feed. So it won't be a total loss.