In travels this week throughout parts of northwest Minnesota it became evident that the much needed rain that the Crookston area received brought a bit more than rain (Figure 1).
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| Figure 1. Accumulated precipitation (in inches), August 5-8, 2019. Source: Midwest Regional Climate Center cli-MATE. |
According to both National Weather Service radar and reports from township supervisors parts of Higdem, Northland and Sandsville Townships in northwest Polk County received pea to penny to nickel diameter hail stones (Figure 2).
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| Figure 2. Radar reflectivity at 9.24 PM on Monday, August 6, 2019. Source: Nick Carletta, National Weather Service meteorologist. |
Assessing crop injury
After learning of of hail injury a crop producer's first step is likely to get into contact with their insurance agent so that an adjuster can come out to survey the damage (Figure 3).
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| Figure 3. Hail can injure leaves, stems and pods, but the extent of damage and the crop's growth stage at the time of injury will influence if and how much of a yield impact may occur as a result. |
According to UMN Extension small grains agronomist Dr. Jochum Wiersma,
If the small grains crop was flattened /defoliated with the hail before physiological
maturity, the crop can respond with shooting up new tillers. Stems/
plants will stay greener as the plants goes into 'salvage' mode.
University of Minnesota Extension and NDSU Extension have materials available online if one is interested in learning more about how hail damaged corn, soybean or sunflower might recover after hail injury at this point in the growing season:
