My brother just sent me a snapshot of one of his corn fields back in Iowa. When you first look at it you immediate can tell something catastrophic has happened. In the course of a couple hours a hail storm came through and ruined what was looking to be a good crop. Early estimates claim that potentially 2 million acres of Iowa and Nebraska corn received hail damage from this single storm.
There is something heartbreaking about seeing a field that has taken such toil utterly destroyed. Luckily for David, and a lot of farmers, crop insurance will come in and assess the damage and pay at least something for the loss of the crop. In David's case it will likely be about 70% of the average yield over the past seven years. While this will keep the farm going it erases all hopes of doing better. It is easy to cuss a storm when it rolls through our suburban neighborhoods and we loose a weekend golf outing or even our electricity. For those who are making a living from the land the gamble they make year in, year out, is not just for a paycheck or the deed to the farm. They are also putting food on our table.
