'Always ready for chaos': How Johnson County farmers are handling hot, dry growing season

The farming season in Johnson County has been beset with challenges, as temperatures soar and rain comes and goes.

Farmers have struggled to get crops in the ground as the conditions constantly change. As the Fourth of July weekend arrives, with possible rain and temperatures close to 90 degrees, those involved in agriculture are hoping to see more stability soon.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, Johnson County is currently at the D0 level, meaning the area is abnormally dry. At the D0 level, corn can show drought stress and soil is dry.

Justin Glisan, state climatologist for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, said, while the weather is dry, it's not a drought.

"It is indicating that shorter-term dryness is creeping in, and that's what we see when we have these hotter days and a lack of rainfall, especially in June," he said.

While eastern Iowa is receiving more precipitation than other areas of the state, the wetness is likely to be short-lived.

"We have seen some pretty good rainfalls over the last few days, but if you go back one to two months, we do see precipitation deficits on the order of two to three inches in eastern Iowa. So short-term wetness, but longer-term dryness," Glisan said.

As the hotter months approach, Glisan said it's important for farmers to take care of both their crops and livestock. While crops are at the mercy of weather, livestock can still be kept cool by having plenty of shade, water and other ways to escape the heat.

'Not enough hay for the winter': Iowa City farmer sees unprecedented struggle

Kyle Schuchmann, owner of Rapid Creek Angus, works with different types of cattle on his Iowa City farm.

The farm has both Angus and Wagyu cattle. This summer, Schuchmann has tended to the cattle individually, as the heat impacts the two types differently.

"The Angus will hang out underneath trees and the Wagyu, with it 100 degrees outside, care not one lick about it," Schuchmann said of the Japanese breed. "They're out walking around. They're laying in the sun. They don't care."

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Schuchmann said he knew the heat was coming and made sure to get his cattle all the resources they need in preparation for summer.

"They have fresh water, cold water. They have shade if they want shade," Schuchmann said. "They have choices. They can go under a tree. They can go in a creek. They can go in a pond. They can go out in the pasture."

Schuchmann said he is currently feeding hay to his cattle to try and save his pastures at multiple farm locations.

"We have a farm by West Branch and the last rain that farm got was 3½ inches. The farm where we live got 4½ inches of rain. And the farm up by Tipton got 5¼," he said. "Up until that rain, the grass hay fields and the grass pastures were turning brown and dying."

However, Schuchmann's fields are producing fewer bales of hay than usual, with one producing 18 when there is usually 30 and another producing eight when there is usually 18.

"We don't have enough hay for the winter. I'm gonna get a second cutting and it should come, but it's the first time in 20 years I don't have enough hay for the winter yet, which is really odd," he said.

Along with managing cattle and hay, Schuchmann tends to his corn crop. The weather also proved to be a barrier as he struggled to get the corn planted on time. As the temperatures fluctuated between hot and cold in April and May, the field did not respond well.

"The West Branch 50-acre farm, that field was so hard it turned to complete cement," Schuchmann said. "We had a 24-row planter that would not go in the ground."

Schuchmann ended up waiting until there was enough rain to replant his fields, and is now watching for signs that the crops do not have enough moisture, like cornfield leaves rolling up.

'A stress response': Iowa City farmer loses 'cool weather' crops

Corbin Scholz, owner and manager of Rainbow Roots Farm in Iowa City, wrote in an email to the Press-Citizen that the ever-changing temperatures in the spring also impacted her planting season.

"The weather this spring was cold, cloudy and windy. This made our spring crops slow to germinate and get growing," Scholz wrote. "Then we had a week of upper 90 degrees weather, which was the worst thing that could happen. This made our almost-ready-to-harvest 'cool weather' crops bolt. This means they put their energy into flowering to go to seed. This is a stress response, making the crop inedible."

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For Scholz, the biggest battle is the change in temperature that brings storms and strong winds. Because weather is unpredictable, she and her staff have to be quick with preparation and management.

"We have shade cloths for our tunnels in the heat and a good irrigation system. For the cold, we have fabric row cover and greenhouses we grow in," Scholz wrote. "The struggle is when it's windy and the fluctuations between hot and cold!"

While the weather continues to impact the crops of Iowa farmers, Scholz is confident her farm will remain stable, since it feeds a community of supporters who pay at the beginning of the season and then come pick up a share of produce every week for 16-25 weeks.

"The perk of growing so many varieties of vegetables, and the reason we do this, is to help with the risk of farming. This allows us to have several options as the season progresses. If our whole entire tomato crop fails, we have the option of filling its spot with other produce, like eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini, peppers, etc," she wrote. "We will always be on track because we are also always ready for chaos!"

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Johnson County farmers, ranchers adjust to summer's intense heat