It’s been several weeks since Southwest Michigan has had any significant rain, and it will likely be at least another week before that changes. So, how is that affecting the crops?

MSU Extension viticulture specialist Mike Reinke tells us they have been discussing that very topic at the office lately. He says there are indeed some crops that could be stressed by the lack of rain.

“Pretty much anything that has not been harvested or is in harvest right now, it seems to be impacted in some way,” Reinke said. “So whether we’re talking about specialty fruit crops like apples or grapes, all the way out to field crops like corn or soybeans.”

Reinke says anything that uses a lot of water will be affected.

“The lack of rain, the lack of water slows down any nutrient uptake that the plants will have. It reduces their ability to fill the crop, the harvestable crop with water. So if you’re talking about something like apples, it reduces the size of the apples.”

Reinke says some yields may also be lower. Affected could be corn and soybeans. While the crops won’t be ruined, he says this does concern growers because lower yields mean lower profits.

While irrigation does help, it’s still no replacement for rain, and Reinke says not all fields have the infrastructure in place for irrigation.

One bright spot — Reinke says grape growers are happy because the reduced rain will likely mean a higher quality of grapes, meaning better wine. He’s expecting the 2024 vintage to be quite good.