Purdue expert: Flooding cost Indiana $475M in lost crops

A month of rain and flooding has cost Indiana about $475 million due to declining corn and soybean yields, a Purdue University agricultural economist said Tuesday.

In the matter of a month, Indiana's corn and soybean crops have declined from among the best to the worst, Purdue professor Chris Hurt said. Seventy-five percent of Indiana's corn crop was rated good to excellent as of the USDA's June 8 report. This week, less than 50 percent of crops received the same rating.

"It is hard not to find the culprit — excessive amounts of rainfall," Hurt said in a Purdue news release.

Indiana's corn yield potential dropped from 178 bushels per acre June 8 to 168 this week, representing a loss of about $300 million, while soybeans dropped from 53 bushels per acre to 49.4 — another $175 million, Hurt estimates.

The estimates are based on weekly crop ratings provided by the USDA.

"The current ratings can still improve during the rest of the growing season," he said, "and they can decline even more if weather remains harmful."