DONATE
Many farm fields, like this one in northern Indiana, have been swamped by heavy rains this summer.
Leigh DeNoonWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — The federal government says Indiana's crops continued to suffer last week as heavy rains fell once again on waterlogged fields.
The report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows 28 percent of Indiana's soybean crop and 26 percent of its corn crop were in poor or very poor condition.
Nineteen percent of Indiana's winter wheat crop was rated in poor or very poor condition.
The report says many parts of Indiana received 2 or more inches of rain last week, and some areas were drenched with more than 5 inches of rainfall.
Waterlogged fields harm crops by depriving them of much-needed oxygen, causing roots to deteriorate and eventually die.
Purdue University agricultural experts say drenched plants are in desperate need a stretch of dry weather to allow roots to regenerate.
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