2005年NPR美国国家公共电台八月-Midwest Drought Hits Soy, Corn Crops Hard

Close to home, another natural disaster is having a major impact on parts of the Midwest, it's one of the worst droughts in decades, thousands of Illinois farmers may lose as much as a third of their crops. And the federal government is expected to declare most of the state's counties a disaster. Sandy Hausman reports.

Last Thursday night at 7pm, 44-year-old John Acmen stood on the porch of a two-story farmhouse 1, designed by his great grandfather. Between his grey beard and his wire frame glasses, a huge smile had spread, he'd been watching the radar 2 for weeks. And one of those scattered 3 thunder storms finally stopped over his farm.

I can't wipe the smile off my face. I may walk around with the silly grin for a while. You know even a hard rain like this, it looks like 'wow this is a drought breaker'. But it probably won't even be an inch, when it's all said and done.

In fact, he got 7/8 of an inch in one hour, not bad considering the areas had less than four inches of rain this summer.

This is too late with corn crop. I think we've lost a third of the crop on the corn. But there's still time for uh pumpkins 5, there's still time for beans, uh, I think it was just in time.

Like many of his neighbors, John Acmen was once heavily invested in corn and soy beans, but seven years ago, he and his wife Eve added pumpkins, 10000 to 15000 of them. They also started growing flowers and fruit. By cultivating a variety of crops, the Acmens reduced their risk of drought-related disaster. Some plants do better than others in times like these, but specialty 6 crops tend to be labor 7 intensive, and the Acmens had to work extra hard during this drought.

You get up at the crack of dawn so you could start watering. We have probably, just to save our dwarf 8 apple trees, I've been thinking we put on 17000 gallons of water in three weeks.

And he's been working overtime 9 to control weeds.

Because of the drought, a lot of herbicides didn't work. It takes rain to activate 10 the chemical or to be taken up by the, by the plants. Without that rain, the weeds came up eventually, 'coz the herbicide was long broken down and gone. I cultivated our pumpkin 4 patch five times, I've never had to do that before.

Other farmers face different drought-related problems. Makurity walks through a corn field where some ears have turned marshy 11 and gray.

That's gross, (that's smut) what is it?
It's a fungus 12. It tends to show up a little bit more in tougher environments like what we got now.

Yourdy removes the husk from another ear that from the outside looks perfectly 13 good. In fact, the top of the cob is empty. Without rain, he says, pesticides 14 didn't work, allowing root worms to become beetles 15, they probably ate the silk off this year, interfering 16 with pollination 17, and preventing proper development.

A fourth that ear has no corn on it, I'm gonna make a kernel 18 count here 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, I'm gonna call it 12 kernels 19' long. Typically, you'd probably love being looking at 40 plus kernels' long.

For some farmers, damage was so bad that they'd plow 20 their fields under rather than spend money on a poor harvest. Fortunately, Yourdy says he has crop insurance that may cover his costs, but there will be no profits from corn. Soybeans could still prove profitable, but they too are infested 21 with bugs 22, spider mites 24 and aphides, Yourdy is taking the situation in stride, he recalls last year when many here in central Illinois had record yields. And he shares the sentiment expressed by Eve Acreman.

Coming into this, you, you've got to know that you're gonna have good years, and you're gonna have bad years, and you're just gonna have to roll with the time. 'Coz if you don't, you'll lose your mind.

In addition to weather, there is one more factor beyond a farmer's control. World prices for corn and soybeans remain relatively 25 low in spite of the drought. Harvest was especially good last year, and plenty of corn and soybeans remain in storage more than enough to meet demand.

For NPR news, I am Sandy Hausman.
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plow under:Cause to vanish, overwhelm, as in The independent bookstores are being plowed 26 under by the large chains. This term alludes 27 to the farmer's burying vegetation by turning it into the soil with a plow.
red spider :红蜘蛛。Any of various small red mites of the family Tetranychidae that feed on vegetation, causing damage to the leaves. Also called spider mite 23. The Red Spider Mite is a predatory mite found in dry environments, generally considered a pest.