Jim Joens looked across his fields with disappointment. On a hot sunny day, after nearly a week of downpour that brought the region over 11 inches of rain, he knew many of his crops wouldn’t survive.
Joens, who grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa on 1,200 acres near Wilmont in Nobles County, has been farming for 47 years and recalled just two similar floods — one in the early 1990s another five years ago.
Nobles County is part of a southwest corner of the state that got as much as 14 inches of rain two weeks ago. “It’s just depressing and frustrating,” Joens said. “I’ve never seen it raining that much in such a short period of time.”
Joens and Ryley Thraen, a neighboring farmer, drove a reporter around Wilmont, pointing out flooded field after flooded field. Occasionally, they couldn’t continue down a road because it was covered with water. Ducks gathered in some of the pools, while other areas were darkened soil and covered in washed up corn stalks.
He estimated that planting each acre of corn requires $700 worth of “inputs” — the cost of seed, fertilizer and other elements. Between him and his son, he said, about 150 acres of corn were underwater; that’s about a third of their corn crop, or about $105,000 in inputs.
“That’s farming,” he said. “Everybody says, ‘Well, that’s a lot of money.’ But it’s the world we live in. We try to make a profit on it. Some years, we make 1 or 2% on it, some years we’ll make a little more, some years we don’t make any.”
It’s still unknown how big the loss will be. Some areas of his fields had yellow-looking corn, meaning it lacked nutrients. Other parts were still covered in water, and still other parts were untouched. Two hundred acres of his fields he’s sure will not produce anything.
While there is no statewide tally of the financial impact of the floods, Minnesota Department of Agriculture commissioner Thom Petersen said their impact was “significant,” hitting areas of southwestern and south central Minnesota and the Iron Range, too.
The limits of crop insurance
Joens said crop insurance “won’t even begin to cover” his losses.
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That’s likely true of most Minnesota farms with washed-out crops who are hoping for a federal disaster declaration to help them with losses. According to Petersen, however, there would have to be a 30% loss on a crop in a county for there to be such a declaration.
“It’s going to impact a lot of farmers, but we’re not sure that they’re going to hit that 30% threshold in a lot of counties to open up the disaster assistance that I think would be needed,” he said.
Joens has been in the business long enough to have the capital for these types of events. But some younger farmers, like Thraen, who’s in his second year of farming, don’t — especially as costs have increased and interest rates have gone up too.
“I can stomach it,” Joens said. “These guys are trying to get into the business and trying to make a living. You got a family, that’s more — it’s a lot tougher. Then on top of this thing, you compound that with interest rates.”
Thraen said he has been unable to get a traditional bank loan but has been able to farm thanks to the Farm Service Agency, which loans him money at a lower interest rate than the bank would and gives him more time for the funds to come in, using the crop as his lien.
“Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to get started,” he said.
Federal funds for counties
On Saturday, meanwhile, the White House approved limited help for Nobles and several other counties through the Federal Emergency Management Agency for areas most impacted by the flooding.
Gov. Tim Walz had sent President Biden a letter requesting help for individuals and businesses in the state, as well as state and local governments.
An emergency declaration was made for 22 counties: Blue Earth, Carver, Cass, Cook, Cottonwood, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Jackson, Lake, Le Sueur, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, Rice, Rock, St. Louis, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca, and Watonwan.
The declaration makes federal funding available to state, tribal and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms and flooding.
That means state and local governments and certain organizations can repair government buildings, roads and bridges damaged by floodwaters. The declaration did not specify how much the state and local governments would have to spend out of pocket, but it is usually 20%.
The declaration also said federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.
No federal aid, however, had been authorized for individuals and families impacted by the flood.
Walz, in his letter, said “the potential small business assistance, individual assistance, and support for farmers on top of the public infrastructure assistance that comes with a federal disaster is what Minnesota needs right now.”
The emergency declaration could broaden to cover other areas — and be extended to individuals.
If approved, individual disaster relief could be modest — for example low interest loans for businesses. Or it could be more extensive, with grants to individuals and families for temporary housing and repairs of residences.
“Damage assessments are continuing in other areas, and more counties and additional forms of assistance may be designated after the assessments are fully completed,” the White House said.
In asking the Biden administration for maximum aid, Walz told the White House tourism in the state would feel the most significant impact because of the storm-provoked closures of state parks and trails. “This impact will be a blow to summer tourism and will begin as early as the 4th of July Holiday,” the governor wrote.
The White House also said John F. Boyle of FEMA has been appointed to coordinate federal recovery operations in the affected areas.
A lot of unknowns
In Wilmont, where it was also hot last week, the crops sitting in standing water in Joens’ fields were dying.
“Stuff that’s under the water with this hot sun, like today again, it’s burning up,” he said. “It’s just too hot for it, and it’s dying. And then all the diseases that come with it.”
His township is estimating between $125,000-$200,000 in damages to bridges, culverts and roads, he said. As he put it: “In the end, Mother Nature still has the last say.”
The floods also impact feed for animals. The grass which typically has good nutritional value when dry now has a hard stem and fewer nutrients. Farmers will need to mix hay with crops that have more nutritional value, like Alfalfa or soybean meal.
This is the “worst it’s ever been,” said Wilmont-area farmer Logan Rogers, who also experienced the 2019 flood.
Rogers grows hay for his cattle’s feed. As Joens drove by those fields, he pointed out more yellow across the beans. Roger’s dad estimated that they lost 100 acres of grass hay due to the floods.
“That’s the thing that I’m most disappointed in,” he said.
Petersen said there have been cattle losses, pasture losses, too, and major infrastructure losses that put stress on townships. The total impact, though, will take more time to figure out.
“This is going to take a little bit of time to sort out, just reporting those acreages and things, but it’ll be significant,” Petersen said. “We need those dollars.”
Washington, D.C., correspondent Ana Radelat contributed to this report.
Ava Kian
Ava Kian is MinnPost’s Greater Minnesota reporter. Follow her on Twitter @kian_ava or email her at akian@minnpost.com.
