Weather Is Hounding Oklahoma Farmers, Again

Tuesday, July 27th 1999, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

The unstable Oklahoma weather is giving farmers a run for their money. Last years dry, cracked land is something farmers say they have tried to forget. This years heavy rainfall has made that easy. David Hermesch, of Coweta, has farmed since he was a young boy. He's owns 1,000 acres of crop land most of which is saturated with water. Hermesch says last year was one of the hardest times he's faced. He'd hoped this season would be better. Because of the excessive amounts of rain, he says it doesn't look that way. "We've got water all over the place, our corn we got drowned out spots in it from too much water," says Hermesch. Many of the corn fields have nearly 2 feet of water running through them. And many of the crops still above ground are dead. Under the mud and muck Hermesch says the soy beans he is growing only have about a 20% chance of surviving. "This year we're looking at $4.50 beans on a 30 bushel crop. You do the math on that and we've got about a $155 there, a third of that will go to my landlord so that only leaves me say $100 an acre and that's my input cost," says Hermesch. In other words, he won't make a dime. Hermesch says he can't get ahead because every year there's a new battle. And he doesn't see things getting better anytime soon. . He says there are only a few reasons he remains faithful to the fields. "Being my own boss to a certain extent. Being able to get out early in the morning and work the "I see some pretty tough times. It's just not fun anymore," says Hermesch. He says he can't run from a battle he believes he can win. Some wheat farmers in Kingfisher County say the rain is keeping them from harvesting their crops. The wheat's been roughed-up by recent downpours and hail. And that will probably mean lower yields in that stretch of the wheat belt.