BERLIN (NBC 26) — Kevin Krentz has been running Krentz Family Dairy Farm in Berlin, Wisconsin since 1999 and serves as the president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau. In addition to raising around 700 cows, he plants crops like corn and alfalfa every year on his farm, which is roughly 1,400 acres, but this year, there's cause for concern over his harvest.
Krentz says the unusual dry spring has led to some anomalies and signs of stress like curling leaves in the crops that have begun to sprout. Thanks to moisture trapped deep in the soil from the wet winter, he says the corn planted early in the spring should be OK, but the dry topsoil has him concerned about the crops he's planting later.
“We have some seeds that haven’t even sprouted out of the ground yet," said Krentz. "We’re very concerned about those, if that stays in dry weather, those seeds may not germinate or continue to make it out of the ground completely and that may affect the yield.”
Krentz says the effects of the dry spell are visible in the dusty unplanted fields.
“We’re getting to the point where we’re extremely dry here as well," he said. "That top two inches, top three inches is very critical on a small plant that’s looking for moisture,”
According to Krentz, a smaller harvest due to continued dry conditions could start a chain reaction, that could ultimately hit consumers' wallets.
“If we don’t hade the yield we don’t have the feed for the cows," Krentz explained. "If we don’t have the yield, we’re gonna have to purchase the feed for the cows, and if that whole region is dry, that feed prices is gonna be more expensive because you have to truck it in further.”
Fortunately, though, Krentz says these problems could all disappear, with a change in the weather.
“Rain coming soon is very important," he said.
