Hamilton Co. farmer praying for relief from rain

SHERIDAN, Ind. (WISH) — It’s been a rough spring for farmers with the constant rain. A lot of the seeds aren’t even in the ground yet. Farmers are feeling the pressure, and we could see the impact on prices later this year.    

According to a new report, only 22% of the state of Indiana is planted. Normally, this time of year it’s 94%. 

Nathan Davis is a farmer in northern Hamilton County. He farms about 3,000 acres of corn every year. Right now, only 500 of that is planted. Davis uses that corn to feed the thousands of hogs he raises. 

He says it takes about 180,000 bushels of corn to feed all of his hogs. On average, he sells about 18,000 a year. Davis says he needs at least 1,300 acres of corn planted. 

This year he’s had to take new measures. He says he’s had to spend nearly $60,000 to buy contract corn for the fall just to feed the hogs. Davis says it’s due to the fact that the weather hasn’t been in their favor this year. 

“It just doesn’t affect the crop,” he said. “I mean you have all of your inputs, your equipment costs, you’ve got your seed cost, your land cost and all that kind of stuff so it’s huge. It affects everything really.” 

Davis says the ground has to dry out before they can get the planter back out. He says the impact the weather has had on planting will increase the cost of corn. As of right now, Davis says it’s nearly $4 a bushel. 

There’s a chance some farmers may not get a crop in the field, or once they do plant, fails. Most farmers have some type of crop insurance, but we are told crop insurance doesn’t cover everything.