By: Cole Miller
cmiller@klkntv.com
The drought has a tight grip on much of the Midwest, including Nebraska an experts say a few more weeks of this weather could have lasting effects.
When it comes to farming, these eyes have seen it all. Born and raised on the farm, Earl Bool says he hasn't seen a drought this bad since 1953.
"Four years of it that crops didn't produce. Wheat made a little bit but corn was a failure all four years," said Bool.
He's farmed the same land for more than 70 years and Bool says this summer he can only do one thing: pray for rain.
Al Dutcher also has his fingers crossed. The state's climatologist says it's the only thing that could maybe turn things around, but we'll need a lot of it.
"Normal is not going to do it. We need to see above normal moisture just to stabilize the yields without any further decline and the absence of that is, my expectation, is we're going to see a rapid deterioration of this crop," said Dutcher.
Bool says there's not much there, and he says it only gets worse the further you go into the fields. It all means a bigger hit to your wallet at the grocery store. Dutcher expects yields this year in corn, soybean and wheat crops to be about half of what they usually are.
"Most likely, we're going to see a response in terms of food prices. There's already banter about it but that's one of the things we're going to see," said Dutcher.
With drought conditions only expanding at this point, and no relief in the forecast, Bool says he's just along for the ride. "We're looking at the worst and hope we get some rain," he said.
